Wild Camping in the Rain | High Willhays | Surviving Dartmoor in Bad Weather
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- čas přidán 30. 05. 2024
- Took an impromptu visit to Dartmoor national park this week. And the nasty Dartmoor microclimate greeted me with Rain, wind and mist.
I was travelling with Warren from @Linleys and I'd like to express my thanks to him for his calmness under pressure from the relentless weather conditions. I was nervous at times for our safety but his experience in bad weather hiking and camping is extensive and he was reassuring throughout.
Starting off in just outside Okehampton we walked to Mellon Viaduct and then Mellon Reservoir before heading up into the Moors proper, with High Willhays our ultimate goal as I've never visited Dartmoors Highest point. And obviously I wanted to Wild camp on High Willhays
We had to employ real navigation skills as visibility was minimal but, clearly, we survived to enjoy another trip soon.
Please employ caution when venturing out camping in bad weather.
Always carry the right gear to look after yourself and those around you.
#campingintherain
#dartmoor
#highwillhays
The stone building is a lime kiln, I keep meaning to make a film on how they work.
The mine 'cave' is an adit, used to drain and add ventilation to the mine and less often as access.
I've no idea what the little shed with the stream running into it is, but my best guess is something to do with the waterwheel that was there.
The 'open mine works' are the slag heaps of the Limestone quarry.
The 'cairn' is indeed a burial mound, it's actually a Kist, Bronze Age, that has been raided at some point.
The huts are range lookouts. The range wardens gather in any sheep, cattle and ponies and herd them off the ranges. They then sit in the huts to watchout for hikers or livestock entering the training area. There are two huts, one for the warden and the other for his/her horse.
Granite is igneous.
You did well to get up there in a little over 4 hours, it's a long old pull up and horrible in that weather. High Willhays is deceiving, it is the souths only mountain and not as high as other English mountains, but it's not that minor. It is actually 6th highest by prominence with only the likes of ScaFell Pike, Helvellyn, Skiddaw, Cross Fell and The Cheviot being higher.
I knew you wouldn't let me down Si!
You're a wealth of local knowledge. Thank you.
All of what you said makes perfect sense.. more baseless guessing in part 2 ; )
@@CampLifeBushcraft What you said was for the most part correct. I'm sure if I came to your area I'd be guessing too.
You've gotta love Dartmoor, never fails to disappoint when you want cr@p weather 😂 I'm going there in July.
Can't beat good ole darty
July. Mud summer.. I predict rain 😂😂
Come on down in July, it's the start of the rainy season.
July? What season is that in on Dartmoor?
Great video! Well done for toughing it out in that weather!
Thanks Dave! It was a fun one 😁
Well battled there chaps.
Another one for the record 😉👍🏼
Cheers Tim. It was a challenging one. But great fun. 👍
Great video again👍 I think the cave with a fireplace is likely an old lime kiln.
Thanks mate. Yes that makes sense.
Epic camp. Went from the shire to Armageddon pretty fast
It was really fun. Paying for it now.. I've got a terrible cold! 😂😂
Had to watch that twice, cracking adventure and lovely weather. Hope there's a part two coming?
Thank you.
Yes, I've been working on the second part today. 👍
Looked moist lads , fair play for leaving the pub in that hoolie , think i would have kipped there!
It crossed my mind 🙂
Wow... The weather was really crappy wasn't it! Even so though, Dartmoor is such a beautiful place, and the Tors really emanate just how ancient they are! Another great video mate, sorry it's taken me so long to get round to watching it! All the best, James 🙏💚
Looking forward to part 2 🍄
Coming soon mate!
Another fabulous video but scary,i thought the your gear was going to take flight,you're Irish friends 🇮🇪
it was a bit hairy at times, but a fun trip in the end.
I'm glad you enjoyed it. Part 2 coming up soon.
Dan : )
G'day Dan, Warren, quite a trip there guys. Great views up top, though to be honest, you woundn't have got me past that greenery and history in the lowlands ; ) Btw; I'm guess'n that was a kiln, based on the design of one fairly close to me, (Kirth Kiln, a charcoal job used during WW2). Again guess'n, it's particular use probably depends on what they actually quarried there ....... sure the workers need to be fed, but it's a bit big for a bakery, tandoor or pizza oven ; )
Cheers Duke.
Si commented (he's a local) He said it was a lime kiln.
He also corrected all my other guesses of what things were.. it's an interesting comment.. I have pinned to the top it if you want to give it a look.
It was a fun trip, good to get my yearly fix of Dartmoor.
more from this trip to follow soon.
All the best.
Dan
The viaduct was an ominous looking structure. How many feet
before you both walked there many years ago, so much history and geography.
Beautiful landscape to feast your eyes upon.
Thankyou for braving the elements
You are most welcome.. on the way out we went up on top of the viaduct. it will be in the next part of the trip.. it was really interesting.
Just shows you the outdoors is still full of wonders and beauty if when its wazzing it dow. 😢 job.
I did yes tor about five years ago in march i think it was just before my stroke , nothing but brilliant sunshine over that three days , mind you the nights were bloody cold it dropped to -1 c but i loved every minute of it. Great video Dan absolutely loved it. It brought back some good memories Thankyou.
You are most welcome. Part two features a cameo from the sun!
My daughter has just completed Ten tors a couple of weekends ago , know the area well with helping her and her school with some of the training .
We passed some folk doing the ten tors. Fair play to them, not an easy trip.
The ten tours event was over the weekend of 11-12 May . The weather was very hot and sunny , you probably saw some children on a training day .
You have the best wild camp channel on utube love your channel and watch every one I want to do it myself but just can't afford a tent at the moment if you have one that you don't use anymore would you be interested in selling me one cheap 😊😊
Hey Dan - another great video! Your old 'cave thing' is actually a lime kiln - in times gone by, limestone would be burned to create lime which was used for building, chemicals and fertilisers - the stone would have been piled up on the other side of that 'chimney' in layers with coal, like a giant lasagna. A fire set at the base, and left to burn for several days - belching out smoke and fumes. Examples survive all over the country. As the fire burned up, the corrosive lime would be raked out from the bottom and stored in barrels for use. Some pits were kept alight 24/7, with the fires being continuously stoked from above as the burned lime was removed from below.
Excellent knowledge, Thank you.
Si added his local knowledge comment which mentioned the Lime kilns among other corrections of my baseless guesses.. give it a look. it's an interesting read.
That’s Dartmoor for you spend a lot of time on there 👍
Yep. It's a funny old place.
Thanks for all the great videos! Do You have a review of the R05 yet? Should I buy it?
How does the Robens tent having a mesh liner affect camping? especially when it"s cold and windy? Obviously you manage! I was looking at the Robens sprinter 2 which is in the same range but a tunnel tent and the Wechsel Exogen 2 as poss new tents. (It's one of those or a TN Pioneer 2). Given you have the 1 person 'version' of each of these I'd be interested in your view as there are negligible reviews on either. Another great video, I love the fact you show the real challenges of camping warts and all.
@ianmatlock1 the Robens does well. I was concerned about the mesh inner myself. But I can't say I notice it to be honest.
BTW I just finished filming a 1 year review of the Robens. Coming out this Friday. You may be interested. 👍
@@CampLifeBushcraftwill watch 👍🏻
Well Dan that was a wet one mate but enjoyed it and looks like you both did aswell lovely place to explore and a bit of history at the beginning hopefully your next one is a dry one atvb Jimmy 😎😎👍👍
Cheers Jimmy, yes the sun makes a cameo appearance in the next part! The rain was fun for a day.. but it gets old quick.
Dan that was absolutely fantastic video that was windy weather I would of stayed in the pub till the wind stop thanks Dan for sharing great video 👍
Thanks Andrew, we'd have had to have stayed overnight in the pub! 😂
@@CampLifeBushcraftwell .. what would have been wrong with that ... other than a headache mate. Bushyboy Oz
@@ewengillies9826 😂😂
Good effort Mr Dan & Mr Linley, Dartmoor can be a really unforgiving place mate. I spent quite a lot of time wandering a round there when I was a young soldier, still do pop down once or twice a year, but I go for the better weather ! Great video bud, thanks for taking us along.
Regards
Moose
Thank you buddy, it was fun one for sure.. not sure I'd want to do it with half a ton of army gear on my back! fair play to you : )
Dan
Great adventure, enjoyed that. Your tent looks good. Oh and - Hobgoblin rules, sorry 🙂
Thanks Hedley. We'll have to agree to disagree on the beer front : )
Totally quality trip there mate, and well captured in your video. Looking forward to your part two. We had another good one yeah! 😝👍🤠
Thanks Warren. Yes, I really enjoyed the trip.
Thanks for your company as ever. brilliant.
just going to start into part 2 now.. this one might take a while, there seems to be a lot of footage!
Dan excellent video, I would have stayed in the woodland lol😊
Haha, thanks mate.
We has our hearts set on the high ground. 🙂👍
Well done Dan and Warren, thats great to see (from the comfort of my home). Quite an experience for you both, thanks for sharing
Glad you enjoyed it, it was a fun one!
Well done for braving it out, pretty rough. Beautiful views. Great video 👍
Thanks jen 😘
Hi Dan, love your Videos.
Always seems to rain when you go to Dartmoor especially near Okehampton.
Looking forward to watching this later with my 10yr old daughter, we camped up on Yes Tor Wednesday Night, very windy but we found relative shelter behind the rocks, experienced the mist walking back in the morning.
Wednesday night we were on the hill overlooking the reservoir. This was Tuesday.. i was on Yes tour Wednesday late morning.. we may have just missed each other!
Hope your daughter enjoyed her camp.
Dan 🙂
We have a place in the US like that Dan, it's called "Wet N' Wild" a famous amusement park..😁 That's some windy, drippy country right there mate, must take you and Warren a week to dry out from an excursion like that. Even with the raging weather, you two maintained a cool head and survived to do it again. Great job with the video, well done given the circumstances, thanks. See you in the next one.
It's a funny place, it seems to have its own weather system.. usually wet!
It was a fun trip, challenging at times but really enjoyable.
Paying the price now with a horrible cold 😂
@@CampLifeBushcraft 🤧
Hello Dan bro !! ..great video !! I like pubs and all.. evening all !! lol !! ..I'm planning a hidey hole in the cellar.. with all the booze down under !! 😜😜👍👍🍻🍻
Like the viaduct.. what did the Romans ever do for us ?? ..or was that the aquaduct.. what's in a name ??!! lol
Much love and blessings to you all ..innit !! X
Hey JT! Been a while. Hope you're doing OK bud xx
@@CampLifeBushcraft Well I'm still f😜rting in church !! lol
Hope you and your beautiful family are well too bro !!.
I'm alright Trevor !! lol X
I hate camping in the rain. I'd have stayed in the pub. Cheers to you for the effort.
it was great fun. Thanks for taking the time to watch it bud.