Saturday, April 13
Dartmoor 5/5 Mon 3/7/23 BROAD BARROW TOR-KING TOR-SHAPLEY TOR-VITIFER MINE WORKINGS
AM:
Broad Barrow
overnight-King Tor-Shapley Tor-Vitifer Mine workings
NNE from BROAD BARROW and onto KINGS TOR (709 814) and the sunken barrow
Kings TorWest to handrail along the field wall onto SHAPLEY TOR (699 820)
Shapley Tor
Making may way back to the road passing Grimspound I crossed onto Headland Warren, aiming to make way own route just below the hilltop.Oops - Bad news/Good news this morning it seemed.
Bad news: The sheep tracks soon petered out and I had to take great care with my footing due to the heather covering the many dips/troughs running across the hillside (I later found out the path at the foot of the hill was equally as treacherous, due to erosion from those doing the Warren House/Grimspound tourist friendly route)
Good news: Whortleberries! I'd read they grew on Dartmoor, but never really come across them until now - or perhaps they were out of season. After a quick google check (like that's definitive these days!) I tasted a few and to my delight found that they were sweet and absolutely gorgeous;
And the whole hillside was covered with the bushes.
Definitely due a revisit. I've never been into wild food foraging, but I'll remember this spot for the future. Especially as its such a bugger to walk over it appears to be rarely troubled.
Back to the old mine workings below Warren Head, on a truly abysmal track. A pretty spot on a quiet day, but always going to be hellishly busy in the Summer months.
My trip notes tell me that the trip out yesterday took approx 1hr, with a 1.5hr return. That's a round trip of 7 miles. Bearing in mind I had the weight of a loaded pack for the overnighter I think I had a better experience compared to poking around Vinter Mineworking like so many others.
And I got free food!
Finally back to the car to move on for my last night.
Labels: dartmoor, wild camping
AM:
Broad Barrow
overnight-King Tor-Shapley Tor-Vitifer Mine workings
NNE from BROAD BARROW and onto KINGS TOR (709 814) and the sunken barrow
Kings TorWest to handrail along the field wall onto SHAPLEY TOR (699 820)
Shapley TorMaking may way back to the road passing Grimspound I crossed onto Headland Warren, aiming to make way own route just below the hilltop.
Oops - Bad news/Good news this morning it seemed.
Bad news: The sheep tracks soon petered out and I had to take great care with my footing due to the heather covering the many dips/troughs running across the hillside (I later found out the path at the foot of the hill was equally as treacherous, due to erosion from those doing the Warren House/Grimspound tourist friendly route)
Good news: Whortleberries! I'd read they grew on Dartmoor, but never really come across them until now - or perhaps they were out of season. After a quick google check (like that's definitive these days!) I tasted a few and to my delight found that they were sweet and absolutely gorgeous;
And the whole hillside was covered with the bushes.
Definitely due a revisit. I've never been into wild food foraging, but I'll remember this spot for the future. Especially as its such a bugger to walk over it appears to be rarely troubled.
Back to the old mine workings below Warren Head, on a truly abysmal track. A pretty spot on a quiet day, but always going to be hellishly busy in the Summer months.
My trip notes tell me that the trip out yesterday took approx 1hr, with a 1.5hr return. That's a round trip of 7 miles. Bearing in mind I had the weight of a loaded pack for the overnighter I think I had a better experience compared to poking around Vinter Mineworking like so many others.
And I got free food!
Finally back to the car to move on for my last night.
Labels: dartmoor, wild camping
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