Approaching the end of a week long holiday in Exmouth, where the weather had been amazing, we decided to extend our stay from Friday to Sunday to enjoy more sunshine. Since I already had my camping kit in the car and a recent walk up High Willhays in Dartmoor had left me keen for more, I asked my wife Stace if I could spend one night there wild camping. She thought it was a bit daft but agreed. I wrestled with whether it was right to head off alone for a night during a family holiday, but doing it then meant I wouldn’t lose a full weekend coming back down to Dartmoor. In the end, I decided to scratch the itch. Stace was fine with it, especially since it gave her the chance to watch her own awful TV shows in peace.
I left in the evening not long before our daughter would go to bed and promised I'd be back first thing in the morning carrying a McDonald's breakfast. I was heading to Rowtor which we'd walked over earlier in the week. There is a car park at the foot of the tor so it's a perfect place for a quick wild camping getaway. It should take less than an hour to get to Rowtor car park from Exmouth. It ended up taking a lot longer than that due to Friday traffic but I arrived in Dartmoor, on my own, in the wild, ready to spend a night under the stars. I was buzzing for it. It was really, really windy though.
I'd been driving behind a minibus of college lads from Dorset on the winding roads into the national park. They also parked at Rowtor car park. They began setting up their tents close to the car park and then watched me walk up the hill. I turned back and they seemed to be looking at me as if to say "I'm not sure that's such a good idea mate". I got to the top and started searching for a place that had a bit of shelter from the gusts and found a spot that had a 180 degree wind break made of rocks. I crouched down to about the height of my tent and the gusts felt considerably weaker, so this would do the job. I finished pitching the tent about half an hour before sunset. That was me set up for the night.
 |
| OEX Phoxx 2 in a sheltered spot in Dartmoor |
 |
| I love this sort of thing |
 |
| A great view of the surrounding tors from camp |
On my previous camps I'd used a little military fuel block stove to boil water for food and hot drinks. Whilst it did the job it wasn't the ideal solution as it took ages, even if I got some daft primal pleasure from lighting it with a ferro rod instead of a match. I'd purchased a proper rapid boiling stove from Alpkit called a BruKit. I also picked up a dehydrated meal of vegan orzo Bolognese from Amazon. I'm not vegan, but I try vegan food when I can. On this camp I regretted that half-arsed policy because this meal was absolutely shite. I think I followed the guidelines properly of filling to the number 4 level, stirring, resealing and waiting 15 minutes, but it definitely wasn't worth the wait. It was like a partially dry blob. I probably didn't actually follow the instructions properly, but it was enough to make me think that Pot Noodles are the future. The BruKit was superb though and I'm glad I bought that.
 |
| Alpkit Brukit stove and a Firepot meal |
When dinner was forced down I opened a bottle of Henry Westons Vintage. I'm very proud to be from Herefordshire and the Westons Cider Mill is just down the road from Ledbury where I grew up and still live. The vintage is far too drinkable for an 8.2% cider. It's absolutely lethal stuff. Henry and I watched the sunset together though and it was wonderful.
 |
| My mate Henry Weston |
 |
| Sunset in Dartmoor |
As the sun disappeared from sight it was time for me to get in the tent and try to get some kip. It started to get dark at around 8:30pm and wouldn't get light again until around 6:30am, so I was in for 10 hours of darkness. I have a pretty decent down sleeping bag and a sleeping mat with a good R rating. Both of those would see me comfortable at temperatures below freezing. It was only forecast to drop to 6C, so I was snug as a bug. Unfortunately it was so windy that it was really difficult to switch off. I was definitely far more relaxed than I had been on my previous camps in the woods near Ledbury though. Wild camping is legal in Dartmoor. It isn't allowed anywhere else in England. Well, it's tolerated in parts of the Lake District, but not technically allowed. It definitely isn't permitted near home in Herefordshire, where you have to pitch up late in the depths of the woods, hoping some Karen dog walker doesn't spot you and report you to a warden. In Dartmoor it feels like proper freedom to enjoy being out in the wild. I didn't have to worry about being asked to move on and I didn't hear the screaming animals you get in the woods. There may well have been some screaming animals in Dartmoor, but I wouldn't have heard them over all the wind. The tent was shaking and I was pleased I'd picked this sheltered place to camp over some of the more exposed spots I'd considered.
 |
| Twilight |
 |
| Home for 10 hours |
I had one of those sort of troubled sleeps where you don't really know if you've been sleeping at all, and then remember the weird dream you just had. I would wake up, then stay awake for an hour, then have a semi dreaming doze again for a couple of hours. I woke properly at about 6am ish. My watch told me I'd had 5 hours and 21 minutes sleep including a whopping 24 minutes of deep sleep. Given the noise all night I was relatively happy with that. It could have been a lot worse. If I'd turned up back at the caravan like a zombie for the final day of our holiday it would not have gone down well at all, but with over 5 hours sleep I could get by no problem. You learn to cope when you have a baby I guess.
I started packing away all of my stuff inside the tent before going outside for a look at the sun starting to rise. It was incredible. Sunrise is the moment that makes all of this worthwhile. It feels like an adventure regardless, but watching the sun come up when you've just spent a night on your own in the wilderness is a special feeling words can not describe. It was pretty cold though.
 |
| A glorious sunrise on Rowtor |
 |
| Cold but happy |
 |
| Sunrise views |
I packed away the tent and made sure I'd left absolutely no trace I was ever there. "Leave no trace" is the most important wild camping guideline. Enjoy the outdoors without doing any damage. Feel proud about leaving it as it was when you arrived, apart from maybe a flat tent shape on the grass.
 |
| Leave no trace |
I walked down the hill towards the car with a spring in my step. It helped that I didn't have the weight of water and cider in my pack on the return leg, but I was so, so pleased I'd decided to do this. I passed the tents of the college lads on the way to the car and they were properly swaying in the wind, with one of them looking knackered. I think I found a much better place to camp up the hill and would have enjoyed some far better views. I'm not going to be smug about getting one up on a bunch of teenagers, but it definitely helps sometimes to venture a little further.
 |
| The college tents. One not in great shape |
I drove back to the caravan, arriving just after 8am with a double sausage and egg McMuffin meal for Stace as promised. Molly had slept through again and I hadn't caused any frustrations at all about not being around. It almost felt like it had been good that I'd been gone for the night FFS. Baby Molly was none-the-wiser that her father was a bit of a weirdo that disappears at night to sleep in the wild on his own. Hopefully one day she looks back and has some appreciation for the joy of it though. The weather was glorious for the rest of the day. I spent more time in a tent, but this time it was a beach tent. Moments more precious as those I'd spent up on Rowtor though. Life is good mate.
 |
| From wild camping to child camping |
For anyone looking to try wild camping for the first time but feeling nervous about taking the plunge, then Rowtor is a cracking place to start. It would be easy to get back to the car if you weren't enjoying it, but if you stick it out you'll get amazing views of sunset and sunrise. You also don't have the worry of being asked to leave (pending the current legal case for the right to wild camp in Dartmoor). It's also important to familiarise yourself with the rules of wild camping in Dartmoor and you do need to check first that there is no military firing scheduled in the Okehampton area of the park before travelling there (Rowtor is within that zone). Here's the link to check...
Below is a screenshot of the sheltered location I found along with a Google Maps link to it. On calmer evenings, I'd go further up Rowtor, but this did the job perfectly on a windy night. Just head for Rowtor Car Park, walk up the hill, find your spot and enjoy an adventure for the night.
Comments
Post a Comment