By: Blonde Two
A very Happy New Year to all of you. Dartmoor is hopefully starting 2013 as it means to go on and has some blue sky today. The perfect recipe for that after party feeling does, of course, involve a cooked breakfast at the Fox Tor Cafe in Princetown and then a visit to at least three tors. Today, I would recommend Great Staple Tor, Roos Tor and Cox Tor – the views down to Plymouth will be beautiful and the pond between Roos and Cox always shimmers in the low winter sunlight. Start at the carpark on the B3357 SX533 752, if the weather stays good, you won’t be disappointed.
This Blonde has three walking resolutions this year;
1. I am going to try and write a blog post for every day of the year. I have done the first one now and the great thing about writing about walking is that you have to go out and do the walking first. This may or may not lead to the “unmentionable resolution” – the one about losing weight. My theory is that weight loss is a shy creature and will only appear if you don’t mention it – shh!
2. I want to walk from Okehampton on the North Moor down to Ivybridge in the South. Blonde One and I have been planning this trip for ages and have done most of it in little snippets. I think 2013 will be the year to get it done. Dartmoor is a bit like a jigsaw in my head – when you do longer walks, it can be surprising to see how the pieces join up.
3. I would like to do some decent day walks in another part of the country. Remember Six Foot Blond? Well he lives up in Yorkshire so I think he might mind me landing on his doorstep before the year is out. He won’t mind as long as I take an apple crumble with me.
I know that New Year’s Resolutions are personal but as I am known for being a bit on the bossy side, I am going to set one for all of you. This year, you should get your walking boots out of the cupboard, pack a flask and some chocolate and go out for some walks. Dartmoor if you are near enough but it doesn’t really matter where. Put the computer down (after you have read my daily blog of course) and get yourself outside … have fun!
Happy New Year to both you blondies and your families! Yes lets hope 2013 carries on like this – an amazing view of the Moors this morning. I DO intend to get walking on Dartmoor again this year although it may be some way off yet. Suggestions of nice easy even path walk would be great – I’m too used to stomping across the open moor!!! I also intend to loose all this weight I’ve put on sat on my arse for the last 3 months! I would say I’m going to give up eating cheese but that will never happen!!! Enjoy thhe weather today and hope all your wishes come true for 2013! x
The first track I tried after breaking my ankle was the railway path out from Princetown. You feel like you are mid-moor but it is flat and easy to get back if you need to. Happy New Year to you too and a speedy recovery. xxx
You didn’t mention about taking the jelly babies out walking!
You are right of course – Jelly Babies need regular exercise and lots of fresh air. A bit like normal babies but best not to get them muddled up.
Great idea to get walking for the year. We’ve set personal targets for walking at least 20 minutes everyday and preferably 1 hour – that’s 3-6km depending on the terrain. So ideas of good walks are welcome and you’re wise to be wary of the moors, as you say DSRT know from their call-out lists.
Those unfamiliar to the moors need to be aware that walking in a direct lines is often not possible due to boggy patches, and heather moorland is hard going, and we don’t want to do it when the birds are nesting.
Admire your challenge of ‘night navigation’ in winter, but listen out for the owls, if you’re near woodland.
Nice to hear from you. That is an impressive challenge – let us know how you get on. These things sound simple but busy lives don’t always make it easy. We didn’t hear owls last night but did see a heron at dusk. Are owls fussy about coniferous or deciduous woods?