Once upon a time, I had this daft idea to visit all my favourite bits of the Moor in one year. I didn't start this at the start of the year [because that would be sensible], and I suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous landscape, which didn't help either. But, with December closing and the weather forecast looming, I finally got to the Big One.
Yup, time for Fur Tor!
Perhaps inevitably, the weather had some fun at my expense. Perhaps almost inevitably, I managed to ding my knee, though this time the other one [perhaps for sake of balance? Oh dear..]. It was even dafter than last time - my foot slipped from under me from a standstill and my moving knee knocked against the slipping braced one. That's it. I'd caught the knee version of my funny bone but really it was nothing, right? So I thought..
Anyway, I had been intending to save this, the Big One, so to speak, for the bit after the 25th, but looking at the forecast made me move things up to get out while I still could without needing to take a boat...
As it was, I found the waterways high enough to be interesting [no wading fords without actual waders!] and the damp bits soggy enough to make having a stick most useful. I still ended up face down, mind but that was due to a torso-sized chunk of bank collapsing under my foot as I pushed off...*
Despite it seeming all sunny and lovely, the persistent rainbow I followed up gave away that the air was in fact made of mizzle. Causing my specs to be constantly superfogged all the way up [and only use of made decent vision possible on the way back, when the wind wasn't right in my face...], which was realllly annoying, as I couldn't range find well enough to tell if the ground I was stepping on was waterlogged or a foot deep wet bit.. Arg. As I said up there, having a stick was very useful.
Then as I cleared the North West Passage and gazed upon Fur Tor itself; fully in the cloud. But this was expected.
On the plus side, it was amazingly quiet for a holiday weekend which looked sunny, and aside from a damsel in distress, I met no one!
Some pictorial stuff;
They've been busy at Postbridge
This is one of a whole series of new drainage ditches across the path 'field', which with several leaping stones***, are an interesting attempt at improving access when it's rained in the last fortnight.
Following a rainbow
Rainbow at the Waterfall
I'm gonna get your Lucky Charms...
[Ahem]
Fur Tor does it again
Ooh, what's this?
A much better example
Dung Roundhead, folks. This is what they look like in the books, so not hard this time. Not growing out of anything, before you wonder.
Small plants!
Slightly less small plants
Morning
Afternoon
Dartmoor, folks. Glorious.
Right then, there ought to be at least one bird picture in this;
Mistle Thrush
The 40+ Golden Plover and 2 different Snipe sadly eluded photography. Oh well.
Ok, that's disjointed and rambling enough, I think.
Be Seeing You..
[[*This after I'd tested carefully, too. But I didn't wander up for the first time yesterday and so I was if not expecting it, ready for it. Momentum is your friend.**]]
[[**I'd put in a JC joke here, but a) I don't do politics on this blog, and b) I'm sure the one you've already thought of was funnier]]
[[***They are unfortunately only stepping stones if you're at least 5'10" - minor design flaw there...]]
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