Ten Tors Training - Dartmoor 3

On Friday 25th April we went down to Dartmoor for the final Ten Tors training weekend before the event itself in two weeks time. After the usual stop at Exeter services, we went to South Zeal for our kit check, route planning and bed.

Early the next morning we drove to Okehampton Camp and met the 55 team from Norton Hill School. As they had 5 people wanting to complete 55 and we had 7, one of our team would be joining then for the event and we would be walking with them for some of the time this weekend. We then promptly headed off, reaching our first checkpoint at Cullever Steps just after it started to rain. We then headed south passed Oke Tor as the weather continued to deteriate, and on to Waters Tor. The weather then started to improve as we cut across east to Kes Tor and held out until we reached Fernworthy when it started to get worse again. We then made our way to Sittaford Tor and continued to complete the long leg over to Water Hill and then back down into Postbridge. At this point, we met Mr Brewer and, as we were ahead of schedule, continued on through Postbridge and up to Bellever Tor, meeting the staff and minibus at the road on the other side of the Tor.

We were then told that so we got to know the 55 team from Norton Hill we would be camping with them at the campsite which the staff use in Princetown and so, for the first time, would not be wild camping. The Norton Hill team were still walking (we had the same route as them but had overtaken them at Cullever Steps), so we ate and set-up our tents while it was dry and were just about to go to bed when the Norton Hill team arrived. We went and sat in their minibus for a while and found out that they were planning on sleeping in the bus overnight rather than in tents, and then went to bed.

The next morning after breakfast and collapsing our tents down, we set off again, this time heading our south, towards South Hessary Tor and Peat Cot where we almost doubled back on ourselves and headed towards Two Bridges. Once there, we headed up the path through Beardown Farm to Beardown Tors where we met Mr Stuart and his drone. We then headed down the valley with the intention of crossing it at the bottom, but hight river levels from all the rain we had had the day before made this much more difficult that we'd expected and delayed us slightly. Eventually we did find a way across and headed up to, and passed Higher White Tor before walking around the boundary wall north west of Postbridge where we were able to find the footpath in to Postbridge, at the end of which we waited for the staff and other teams to arrive just as it started to rain.