More Moor

For the return journey from Dartmeet I decided to take a higher path. I'd cooled down a bit stopping for lunch, and the climb out of the Dart Valley was hard going. There's a path between Combestone and Venford Reservoir, below the Holne Moor Leat and skirting the top fringes of the Dart Valley woodland. It's a wonderful rocky path, which hugs the contours of the land. It passes through boulder strewn and moss covered stands, in addition to the moss the trees are lichen covered too. I heard a cuckoo, first of the year. Every turn, every gap in the canopy reveals stunning views over the steep Dart Valley, and glimpses of its bubbling river. The trees are still naked and, for the most part, you can see good distances through the woodland, that wont last for long though, when the canopy comes to leaf the woodland and valley will close in on themselves, adding to the magic. It'll be a different world completely. From Venford I returned to the familiar path that skirts the river down to New Bridge, a path we've walked countless time, though a path that never loses its appeal. Back in the deeply cut gorge, more moss covered rocks and tenacious trees cover the steep slopes above you, and again the sound of the thundering Dart is your walking music. Wonderful. Too soon I was back at New Bridge and walks end. I say too soon, it was, though I'd set off with strains, sprains and pains, I have to admit to overdoing it and that the return leg of the walk was increasingly hard going. Still, the walk was just what I needed. Dartmoor oozes an energy and magic which you soak up like a sponge, the thing is, life wrings it out of you. I suppose the solution is to visit more often...sounds good to me.