Monday 2nd February Cox Tor

A heavy snow shower as I drove out to Pork Hill car park for a relatively short walk.

I headed up towards Cox Tor with Marcus in his all-terrain wheelchair. An amazing piece of kit, capable of easily going off road.

 Just after I left Marcus it started to snow again and I think this little pony thought I might have some food.

As I got near to the top of Cox Tor the dark clouds were coming in from the west.

On top of Cox Tor were these two sheep with their very distinctive markings. Tavistock is in the distance.

Over to the east there was still a little blue sky, Great Mis Tor in the far distance.

I went down the other side and another pony came towards me again expecting food.

The dew pond at the bottom was completely frozen and the black clouds from the north were approaching fast.

Up to the space between Roos Tor and Great Staple Tor

By the time I got to Great Staple Tor the sleet was falling heavily......

Middle Staple Tor.

The sleet quickly changed to heavy snow and I wandered back to the cars. There must of been a couple of  inches of snow on the road and traffic coming up Pork Hill was having some difficulty. I think at that time it would have been quite impossible to get up the hill from Merrivale to Princetown.

At least I managed to do a short walk in magical conditions.

Wednesday 28th January Great Links Tor

The weather forecast was for strong winds, heavy showers and a drop in temperature and that's exactly what happened.

Setting off from High Down,  and across to Nodden Gate.

Up to Great Nodden...

...and then down again.

looking back at Great Nodden.

A short break here for a hot drink and then we took the direct route up to....

...Gren Tor. Heavy rain at this point and very strong winds.

A little bit of sleet as we headed over to Hunt Tor before cutting across to the main track. Both Pete and Terry had their rucksack covers removed by the strong wind!

Then on to Great Links Tor as the rain and sleet eased.

Another short break on Great Links Tor. Looking across to Sharp Tor and Hare Tor.

Down past Arms Tor and over the stepping stones before returning to the cars after a very invigorating walk.

An excellent lunch in the Dartmoor Inn. With Ian, Jon, Terry, Pete and for the first time Mike. Jane joined us for lunch.

Wednesday 27th January Great Gnats Head

Hard to believe it's 27th January and this is the first entry in my blog for 2015. The reason for this is that we were visiting my daughter in Bordeaux and then I came back home very nasty head cold. An afternoon walk and it is good that the daylight hours are at last getting longer.

I started from the car park at Gutter Tor which was very busy, mainly because the local hunt were out. I took the track up towards Eylesbarrow and very soon came across the hunt who seem to be scattering the sheep in all directions!

Just a little further along the track I bumped into the military.  I politely asked the leaders if I could take a photograph as they went past  and they were very quickly ordered to form a group for a photograph! Lots of good banter and then off we all went.

Past the remains of the Eylesbarrow tin mine.

I took the fork towards Plym Ford and was passed by two farmers 4x4's obviously a part of the hunt and doing it the easy way.

A very brief interlude of sunshine.

 
Then down to the ford.

Up the hill through some boggy bits to Great Gnats Head (which is a rebuilt cairn).

A change in direction to find Broad Rock. This is on the Abbotts Way and whilst I must have been past this before I have no recollection of it.

Then down across some really 'hummocky' stuff to Grim's Grave. A deep Cist (an ancient burial chamber) which has had the top rock removed.

I followed the river valley which leads into Deadman's Bottom - this is a small valley with extensive mine workings and this is looking up this small valley.

On to Plym Steps to cross the river, I took the track up.

Looking back at the Plym valley.

Wednesday 31st December Beardown Tor

Weatherwise what a difference a day makes. A little warmer, a stronger wind and foggy at least at the start. Starting from Two Bridges and going clockwise we set off along the road before taking footpath leading out to Beardown Farm.

Out over Beardown Hill....

....to one of the three tors that make up Beardown Tors

As we went down to the weir there was a change as the fog lifted and patches of blue sky appeared.

We took our break by the weir which was icy and rather than cross here...

...it was decided to cross the river a little further down.  There was still some ice on these and they were slippery. Unfortunately one person got a little wet.

Next up to Higher White Tor to return along the ridge line with much dramatic lighting in front of us.

Looking back to Longaford Tor.

Down to the stile below Little Bee Tor.

Unusually for us it had been previously decided that we would go to the Fox Tor Cafe in Princetown for lunch but with many people on holiday it was very busy and some decided to go to the pub instead.

With Pete, Cath, Peter, Sandra, Bill, Jane, Ian, Terry and Jon.