A hot morning run.

The falls on the East Dart, always worth a visit.

The other day I woke up with a longing to go to the falls on the East Dart, I also needed some exercise and I wanted to try some functions on the viewranger GPS app that I use. The fly in the ointment was that I only had a couple of hours free. Sometimes you have to grab the opportunities that present themselves and when different factors coincide you just have to get out there! So it was going to have to be a run not a walk.

The traffic coming out of Fernworthy forest suggested that a party was taking place somewhere in the woods but on this occasion I didn't hear any music.  I did pass some exciting looking car tyre tracks though. I followed the main track up the steepish hill as a bit of a warm up. The day was hot and my pace reflected that as I jogged and walked through the heavy forest air. All the while accompanied by the hum of insects going about their hectic routines.

I always relish the moment when you break out of dark conifer forest onto open country and today was no exception. Waving to a group on a D of E expedition or some such I passed through the gate and followed the  wall beside the Grey Wethers stone circle and up to Sittaford Tor. I'm not used to following a GPS trail and this proved a useful justification for a couple of breathers while I got to grips with the technology.

This Tiner's hut made a good way-point on an empty hillside

Heading west from the tor I startled several larks who rocketed into the sky while I made my way to an old Tiners hut that I had selected as a way point. I was struck by their musicality especially contrasting with my laboured breathing. When choosing waypoints for a GPS route it makes sense to pick a feature that is obvious in the landscape.

GPS and aerial images lets you follow the narrowest trail

The next part of the route was the main reason for using the GPS today. Dartmoor is covered in paths and trails of greater or lesser use to human feet. The paths marked on maps sometimes only identify a right of way rather than an actual route. Sometimes routes that are marked have been changed by time. Today's experiment was that the route I had entered into my GPS was plotted using paths visible on the aerial images on the view ranger website. I had deliberately chosen small and indistinct paths to test the mettle of the software and to prove the accuracy  of the mapping.  

The software worked perfectly and the track on my phone screen placed me on a path that was only about 6 inches wide. Last year I lost about 10 minutes on a north to south run in this area as I lost the path and wound up in amongst the cotton grass.



The sun was rising in the sky and I was glad of my cap and sun block when the path led me across a slight dip to a rock outcrop before swooping downhill to the East Dart.  I took the opportunity to cool of quickly with a cap full of river water and had a drink from  my bottle  before wandering upstream a little towards Sandy Hole Pass. I always marvel at this drain cut through  the peat and lined with rock. The labour and effort required to straighten the stream and line it with granite boulders in a pre machine age is testament to the toughness of the Tiners.
The day was getting no cooler so with another swig of water and a handful of jelly babies I bade farewell to river and falls and retraced my route.  

Lessons learned

•  Always remember the backs of your elbows when applying suncream for a run!
• The arrow in the corner of the screen when following a view ranger track tells you which way to the correct bearing of the track not the direction to the way-point.
• You can never have too many jelly babies!
• Combining Aerial images and a GPS app can save you ages of wallowing in bog and Mire.

 See you out there.

Track for the route is here  www.plotaroute.com/route/453912


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