Mind Boggling

Rising rivers, quaking bogs, ferocious winds, possible thunderstorms and annoying theme tunes – will Paul Beasley be able to take all this in his stride and successfully cross Dartmoor?

- Paul Beasley

WE PAUSED ON BUTTERDON HILL, barely 20 minutes into our planned threeday journey. It had started off smoothly on the so-wide-you-can’t-miss-it Two Moors Way – but things were about to get ‘interesting’.

The main challenge of crossing Dartmoor is not to do with height. After all, the pinnacle of this national park is the weathered granite outcrop of Yes Tor, which pokes a mere 2031ftinto the sky. The real difficulty is the quaking, squelching bog which bows between the tors like a wet blanket on a slack washing line. Even in dry spells, the bog is rarely firm underfoot thanks to sphagnum moss, which is able to hold up to 26 times its dry weight in water. Add to this how nondescript the hills can look in poor visibility and you begin to understand what qualities the Royal Marines gain from training on Dartmoor.

Yet it wasn’t the bog that preoccupied us as we gazed out over the moor. Instead, it was what was forecast to swing offthe ocean behind us – a two-fisted assault of intense rain and gale-force winds. So, knowing the likely conditions, why did we even bother?

A combination of family commitments and a twice-postponed operation had made our ‘windows of opportunity’ more like arrowslits in a castle, so we decided to take the chance and come what may. Initially, the forecast was brilliant, but the nearer we got to our departure the greater the chances became that we’d be walking out in a dreadful downpour.

C’est la vie. Forward!

Many rivers to cross

“This cloud coming in now with its patchwork of grey and white is stratocumulus, and behind it is nimbostratus – the real rain-bringer,” says Martin, ominously, from our vantage point. On cue, parts of the mid ground begin to disappear in sudden, blurring cloudbursts. Not wanting to pitch a tent in rain, we cross our fingers and push on.