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TRACKING MAP LIVE: https://bit.ly/2p3CxRl
What's this about?
No one has ever tried to walk all the tors in one go before. This might be because no one's ever agreed on how many there actually are... (see disclaimer below).
This is a very personal challenge for me. I have grown up with Dartmoor as my back garden. Each tor and grid square has layer upon layer of memories: my first ever camp, aged 8 or 9; the clitter we pitched our tent on during 55 mile Ten Tors because we were too tired to move; my 18th birthday party; the leat I fell in on a residential...
My Dartmoor addiction got serious when I started Ten Tors training. I was lucky enough to join a group that wanted to do much more than the minimum requirement to enter the event. For four years I traipsed across Dartmoor with a 60L rucksack, every other weekend through Autumn, Winter and Spring. Then back again in the Summer for different events. I became intimately acquainted with the bogs and streams, paths, crosses and miles of tussocks.
Those years got me four events (as we call Ten Tors) under my belt: 35, 45 twice and 55. I was the first girl across the line on the 50th Anniversary of the event. My team finished a 45 mile route at 7:56am on Sunday morning - although sadly only in training.
But when you're doing 10 tors, you can't help wondering if it's possible to do all of them in one go...
I came back from university and fell into the old patterns of Dartmoor life. I'm back with my old Ten Tors group as a leader, still walking and camping most weekends (but with less sugar and more wind chill). I'm also now in Dartmoor Rescue, giving me a weekly (if not bi-weekly) excuse to spend an evening on Dartmoor - not including any call outs!
2018 is our team's 50th Anniversary. We were the founding Dartmoor Rescue team (there are now four) and so it's going to be a big year of celebration. It also makes a nice excuse to do something you've been thinking about for ages... Walking all the tors on Dartmoor in aid of the team to mark its 50th year and my 25th year seemed fitting.
The more I think about it, the less prepared I realise I am. Despite years of walking and camping on Dartmoor, I've never wild camped alone before. Sure, I've been in a tent on my own hundreds of times, but there's always been someone else nearby. Odd that it's never happened and fitting, I feel, to break that never on Dartmoor.
I've also never done a walking expedition longer than the 4 days I spent on my Gold DofE. But I'm not doing any special training for it. The most interesting part is going to be working out how to fit two weeks' worth of food into a 60L rucksack.
The route is a circuit, of roughly 330 miles (measured with string on a 1:50,000 OS map). I'll be going to each tor once and only once, not leaving the Open Access Land where possible.
I will have a tracker, so you can follow my progress. It's live now: https://bit.ly/2p3CxRl
Disclaimer for Dartmoor Nerds
How many tors there are on Dartmoor is a highly contentious issue. Yes, really. Counts range from 100 to well over 300, depending on who you listen to - and what you consider to be a tor.
So, for all you Dartmoor nerds, I'm classifying "all" as every tor within the connected component of Open Access Land that is marked on OL28 as "something" space "tor". That's yes to Yes Tor, no to Kestor Rocks, no to Foggintor and no to Hay Tor. Grumble as you will... :)
What Does Dartmoor Rescue Do?
Dartmoor Search and Rescue saves lives in wild and remote places, on Dartmoor or the surrounding areas.
- We are all volunteers - no one is paid
- The entire organisation depends on income from fundraising
- We don't sit on Dartmoor waiting for a call out (!)
- We are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
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So please dig deep and donate now.
