By: Blonde One
There have been many occasions in the past when I’ve walked on Dartmoor on my own. The feeling of solitude and peace is almost overwhelming. If ever there was a cure for feeling fed up of the hustle and bustle of life or the office madness, then a solitary walk on Dartmoor is it! It’s very easy on Dartmoor to feel like you’re a million miles from any other human contact, whilst actually being quite close to civilisation. The wind will blow away the firmest of cobwebs, the views will cure the worst headache and the peace will quieten the loudest noises from urban life.
Having said all of that, tomorrow I am walking with my favourite walking companion and I know that the walk will be amazing, I will laugh a lot, it will probably rain but I won’t mind a bit and I will be so glad that it is not a solitary walk!
And of course, by the time we have finished our walk, the world will have been put completely to rights!
Totally agree with the “switching off” aspects of Dartmoor. Hubby never quite gets it when I want to go to Dartmoor in preference to a walk on the coast path. Somehow, walking the coast path I’m still thinking about work and mentally planning lessons, working through my to do list etc, but when you hit Dartmoor it is a complete switch off. Suddenly nothing matters apart from finding your way from A to B and marvelling at the views (or lack of in the drizzle!!!).
I’ve only walked on my own once (and even then I had Charlie for company!)..A fab 16km stomp that took in Hamledown amongst other places. Really enjoyed in until my knee locked up coming down off Hamledown and I was still 4km from the car and had to be back home in about an hour and a halfs time!!!! Suddenly i realised just how much more volnerable you are on your own!!! Fortunatley after a bit of rubbing it released and I just made it home in time!!!
We were just talking about walking alone – I am much more careful where and when I do it since I broke my leg. That would have been a really nasty on as it was quite a distance to a mobile phone signal.