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The Dartmoor 6 + Mr Fox
This was a brilliant camp. Really good fun, and we all learned something new.
Firstly, we met at the arranged pub, and as usual, Scythe13 (me) was fashionable late, after being caught up behind a load of sheep and cows colonising the road...stupid things. So that wasn't much fun.
I got to the pub to find MCavity, The Falcon, MikeA, and 2 others (came with MC) sat at the table, pints in hand, looking like they were conspirators to some random abduction. I looked and thought, these guys look like trouble. So no changes there.
From there we set off to find somewhere to camp. Thankfully human ingenuity and a shared sense of adventure brought us up to a wonder spot, with a 2km walk into a set of woods. IDEAL!!! When we parked up, well, I say we, I actually mean MCavity and co. MikeA and myself had to park elsewhere. I planned to park just outside the car park on a cut out area by the road. MikeA, however, had spotted a 5* hotel and decided they would donate the use of their car park to us all, free of charge. I fear the hotel owners would have disagreed to the idea, but by then it was too late. We had set off down the trail towards the woods.
Everyone was in high spirits and wrapped in waterproofs. Which it turned out where much needed.
Onward and upward, and downward, and forward, and upward some more, and more downward, etc. for 2km, until we arrived at out destination for the camp. Orienteering was going to be vicious going, from what I could see. Setting a route would be fun though.
So, we scouted out the area, looked around, and figured that sleeping on what looked like the remnants of a boulder-field mud-slide, covered in moss and trees, might not be the greatest host for tents and tarps. There was literally not a single piece of flat ground that was any larger than the top of a boulder. Oh, and for those wondering why we didn't opt to sleep on boulders, experience has taught me driving a tent peg into a boulder usually ruins the pegs....who knew?!?!
Time for more searching the area. MCavity's 2 limpets stayed by our bags and we went-a-searchin'. After running up the hill, then back down, then back up again and along the top, we figured, the woods may have been long, but it was all just 1 giant boulder field, on a slope. The Falcon noticed the little stream had a nice clearing to it. Possible destination found! Now, the really 'fun' part. A scramble over mossy rocks, fallen trees, boulders, and bogs. Turns out, nobody got injured, and we all liked the look of the area! Awesome. Right, let's go back up to the ridge where we left mini-MC's and our bags.
On a funny note, MikeA and myself went up the hill after The Falcon and MCavity, and when we got to the top we tried to figure out why MC and TF were heading in the opposite direction to where the 2 guys and our bags were. We never did figure that one out.
We gathered our bags and wits, and set off back down to the decided location.
So now imagine 5 guys tents up and ready, waiting for Scythe13 to set up his camp. As it turned out, there was a lovely bunch of boulder in the middle of the stream, making a kind of grassy island. Damn right this was a great idea! 2 wooden posts, 1 basha, and camp S13 was established. Ideal location, to stand up and pee anywhere. If you did, you'd either hit the basha, or the water. SD would have expected nothing less.
So back to the main group and we're showing our latest purchases off. MCavity has his awesome camp axe, MikeA showing his jazzy 'borrowed' tent (I plan to get something similar, it really was cool and low profile), I was showing off my lovely new tomahawk, and all was good.
Later we decided it was time to start collecting firewood. When I say WE, I mean MCavity told his 2 tag-alongs to go and collect firewood. With this as their task, please note it was no easy mission. The moors were subject to pretty much continual rain for nearly a week. So the only dry thing in the area were those wearing waterproof jackets. But sure enough, the guys did a sterling job and came back with a load of firewood.
Next up came the quest for fire! Working with wood this damp was ridiculous! I have made fire with snow coated logs more easily than I have with this stuff. You would strip it down and split it as much as possible, and it was still soaked. We were even splitting it to the middle, and drenched. Even 4 or 5 inch logs were still wet in the middle. I genuinely have not experienced anything like that before. This fire was not going to be easy...or likely. But then all hail what TF came over with. His bottle of Meths. Yep, that'll do it mate. That'll help start a fire and produce enough heat to dry off the smaller stuff. Thankfully, that is what happened, and we got a lovely LITTLE flame going. The logs were all so moist, and all the guys were working so hard splitting wood, I was ashamed that we didn't get anything bigger than a small fire. I do apologise guys. But I really appreciate all the work everyone put into splitting logs and gathering the firewood.
What we had was enough to warm some feet and dry some shoes. This camp was an awesome test of thrashing my Vibrams, and thankfully they dried out pretty well.
After more chatting, it was time for bed. Everyone got their get ready, MCavity got his black-bag out for the guys to put their rubbish in (tidy campers that we all are) and off we set to our tents. From here, I don't have a huge description of what everyone else was up to, because my camp was about 50+ meters away, in the middle of the river. So hopefully someone else can fill in the blank spots.
Over at Scythe Island, the sleeping bag was out, black-bag was out, and sat up checking out the starts for a while. I was really hoping it wouldn't rain too badly. Mainly because I had not aired, OR DRIED, my tent since it's last use. And there's a possibility it may have acquired a bit of an odour. I seem to keep making beginner mistakes.
The weather does look like it's going to rain, so I put some of my food into the black-bag, as well as some of my other stuff, e.g. car keys, knife, etc, for easy access, should I want to use it in the night. Black bag by my head, if I want it. Head down and time to sleep.
Suddenly I get awoken my the sound of my black bag being blown away by the wind. I open my eyes and grab the bag before it blows away. There before me stood a startled fox, confused and clearly unimpressed with my movement. I pause for a second to take in what I can see. So I shout at it to scare it off. It runs off a little, then stares at me. Somewhere in my head I remember hearing dog barks scare foxes, so that became my modus operandi. "WOOF!!!" Haha, stupid fox. That'll show him. Off he shot. So I lay my head back down, closed my eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
Once again I hear the rustling, and I spin around to face my bag and bark at the same time. Mr Fox does a runner, bag in his mouth, but he drops it all. Just in time too. One foot further and he would have dunked my keys into the water...as well as my Pain Au Chocolate!!!
Well, it turns out it's not the Fantastic Mr Fox we were dealing with. I was under siege by the Persistent Mr Fox!!! In total I had 5 'altercations' with Mr Fox. The funniest probably ended up with my shouting "F**K YOU, YOU F**KING, P**CK FOX W**KER." It seems this was heard over the din of the rushing water as I shortly saw flashlights at the camp further downstream. After Mr Fox's 5th attempt, I was sick of him and decided to put up the tent...in the middle of the night. Thankfully it was a clear sky and the moon was bright. Oh, also thankfully I had a torch with a head strap haha. I think anger really helps my to put up tents in record time! Stupid Fox!!!
After my tent was up and running, I could see torches flashing and scanning the area. It would seem my neighbour had found another camp to hassle.
This helped me to sleep, knowing I wasn't the only person suffering. But it was night and warm in my ultra-light sleeping system! Very impressed with it. Had to strip down to shorts and tshirt, and no socks, I was that hot. Sound asleep, happy as can be. I woke up many hours later, having slept like a hibernating bear! LOVED IT!!!
The next morning it turned out everyone pretty much needed to get going home early, so no orienteering :-( But it's okay. I realised I'd forgotten my map anyway. Thank goodness everyone had to vanish off.
When we got together to see how everyone slept, MCavity said it was the freakiest night he'd had for a long time! While The Falcon and Mike A had just slept through the whole ordeal. Mr Fox had given the guys a visit, but I'll leave them to tell you about that.
We got back to our cars after a nice early morning walk, and off we went, our separate ways. Having had a great time, I'm pleased to announce that there will no doubt be another Dartmoor meeting, and we'll be having a winter camp, or 2, for sure!
Thanks for a great time lads. Sorry for the organisation of it. I hope you like your prizes for turning up, and I can't wait for our next meet. I'll get to sorting something out soon.
I would give it 1 out of 5 stars, because I'm not a fan of being hassled by a fox. Having said that, as a great experience, I'd give it a good 5 star learning experience. Great to see you all, and next time we'll have a better fire, better fun, and better events.
p.s. message me your phone numbers.
Dissent is the highest form of Patriotism - Thomas Jefferson
Those who sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither - Benjamin Franklin
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