Moor Time

This was a family first.  Maybe a little more than your typical family adventure, and less achievable than some of our other activities, unless you also have bikes and some camping kit, but by no means unachievable.  (And you don't need bikes if you prefer backpacking).

When I say family first, we have been cycle camping once before as a family, but not as lightweight - we had a bike trailer with a 2 year old and a tag along with a 6 year old.  We only carried the cycle kit about 5 miles, we cycled mainly along the Nantes-Brest Canal, and used a campsite and gites.  We were also considering repeating the trip this summer, but alas CoVid put paid to those ideas.

I had cycle camped regularly as a child, although the cycling was always on roads - the slightest hint of anything less smooth than tarmac, or any loose surface and there would be an outcry of "rough stuff!" and "we may need to walk this bit", as the group came to a grinding halt and began pushing their bikes.

This adventure was different because we were going wild camping on Dartmoor and we were all moving under our own steam, all off-road.   We didn't know where we were going to camp, or whether we could ride there.  Roy had wanted to do this for some time.  Load up his bike, ride onto Dartmoor, camp out overnight and head back the following day all refreshed and invigorated, filled with a sense of adventure.  But when he told the kids, they wanted to go too.  We are open to encouraging their sense of adventure, so although this would now need a little more planning, we decided to go for it.  It would also be good preparation for when we do get to go somewhere a little further afield.

We researched bikepacking and realised that this could very easily become very expensive, with all the ultralight and super compact equipment available, as well as specific bikes (which are always desirable).  Despite appearances (see below), we weren't going up Everest, we didn't need the -30 sleeping bags that pack down to the size of a pea.  Clearly, we have already done this to a certain extent, so we have a camping stove and sleeping bags that would suffice.  We already have normal mountain bikes, no 'gravel' bikes or e-bikes mind. We bought some "bikepacking" bags from Lidl, two fairly small and light tents from Go Outdoors (in the 50% tent sale), and some cooking pots and a tarp from ebay.  We did upgrade our sleeping mats, we knew the quality of the sleep could make or break a trip.  Yes, we had already blown the budget, so fingers crossed this was going to be fun!

It took us a full day to work out the best way to get all the kit into the bags.  

        

We almost admitted defeat and succumbed to using the panniers instead (but this also meant a change of bike and tyres, that may have limited the terrain), it turns out a family of four's stuff is a tall order when only small bags on three bikes could carry any load.  

So, Oliver got away with just a small tool bag on his bike.  Hayleigh had a saddle bag and a small handlebar bag.  Roy and myself had a saddle bag, handlebar bag and rucksack each.  Roy also had a frame bag as his was the only bike big enough to take one.  By the end of the day, we had managed to get everything in, including some food, but very minimal clothes.  At this point, we all had a spare pair of pants - good job this was just for the night.  We were also pretty chuffed that we had the obligatory mugs hanging from our saddle bags, albeit plastic ones rather than the "proper" aluminium. At the last minute Oliver added his own rucksack, complete with football, frisbee and playing cards.  A full bag basically consisting of air - not bad.  I was considering the need for a pair of cycling shorts, but I couldn't argue the 9 year old out of his need for his football over my comfort.

We hadn't actually decided whether we were going that day or not, or whether we were just working out how to pack the bags and the bikes.  It got to about four o' clock, and we said "let's just do it".  It was one of those spontaneous decisions that we rarely make.  We could carry on at home, spend another evening deliberating, leave it till tomorrow when something else might come up.  

We had been looking over maps for the last few days, highlighting where wild camping was permitted, and we had a few ideas of where we could try.  We plumbed for Okehampton Camp, loaded up the bikes into the van and set off.  There was an air of excitement and anticipation filling the van as we drove over the moors.

Where it all began

We parked up at Rowtor Car Park and offloaded everything.  Here we came across our first issue.

Oliver has a strange habit of deciding, quite suddenly, that he just doesn't want to do something.  This could be anything, today it was riding his bike.  We shared a puzzled look.  Had we or had we not fully  explained the concept of a BIKEpacking trip? Yes we had, and Oliver had wholeheartedly wanted to do this, right up until the moment of getting out of the van and getting on his bike.  Next issue  "I want my buff".  The buff, that has been tucked into one of these bags that we have been packing all day and haven't got the foggiest idea where it is - that buff.  After some persuasion we begin cycling, following a nicely surfaced track (the one to the right in the picture), things are looking ok.  It's a little bit windy, we are right on top of Dartmoor so that's pretty much to be expected.  It's a head wind.  The tarmac has become a little less smooth, and has started to degrade at intervals into more of a gravelly path and is slightly uphill.  He decides he's cold and gets increasingly grumpy until he descends into a 'walking my bike' tantrum.  This was not helped when two runners passed us, and two farmers depositing some sheep out on the moor.  Hayleigh on the other hand is loving it and races off into the distance.  After 20 minutes or so of grump, and Roy and I taking turns to pacify the mood, and most importantly - finding a buff, we near the top of the hill and his mood begins to lift.  We may sound like mean parents at this point, forcing our child to ride his bike into the wind up a hill, against his will, but actually he's quite used to cycling and this initial resistance is a common occurrence, and is usually followed by 'the best time of my life'.  Fingers crossed this was where this was going, otherwise this could be a long night.

By this point we were at the highest point of our loop, we had consulted the map along the way as we hadn't known what the state of these 'roads' would be before we got here.  We decided to mainly stick to the biggest track,  the road provided intervals of tarmac interspersed with gravel sections, that provided enough resistance, and we ultimately wanted this to be a positive and enjoyable experience and didn't think that going too far off the beaten track would prove conducive. 

We had crossed over Black a Ven brook, a fun kind of stream flowing down mini waterfalls over the rocks and under a bridge and zigzagging back down towards Okehampton.  Passed East Mill Tor on our right and up to Okement Hill, where we found a military Observation Point (OP15).  As the high point, this provided a welcome stop.

 

There is something liberating about being in the middle of nowhere, with no particular place to be, or time to get there, apart from preferably before dark. Lost but not lost, we had a map and we knew where we were, in relation to the nothingness that surrounded us. We were here and nowhere. Just the four of us and nobody and nothing else, apart from the elements, the open moor and everything it is home to.

One of the criteria for the trip had been to find a spot for a wild swim, or paddle, at least.  

We decided to head for Steeperton Gorge, this meant a bit of hike a bike down from the main track, but the spot we found was great, with a stepping stone crossing over the River Taw.  We found a relatively flat and sheltered area for our tents and set up camp.  I prepared the beds while Roy started on dinner and the kids played around near the stream.  By now it was quite late and we were all hungry.  

 

A family of ponies came down to the stream while we were eating, obviously we were visiting one of their watering holes.  They crossed using the stepping stones and wandered along the path a little further before settling down for the night.  

 

We enjoyed our meal and pudding, then decided to get into our tents to keep warm.

It was a windy night, the children both slept really well, while ours was disrupted by the wind and rain.  The positioning of our tarp, we decided, was probably not the best.  But we were all warm, dry and cosy, so our investments in our equipment were obviously paying off.

In the morning we didn't wake too early, the ponies were still there, having got up for a drink before heading about their business for the day.  We saw a man who was running from Belstone to Ivybridge, and a group of three backpackers.  We got up for some hot drinks and porridge before taking a walk up Steeperton Tor, quite an appropriate name for a steep sided Tor.  

There is a ridge of rocks along the top of the Tor, 

and another military hut with a flag pole, signalling the edge of the firing range.  

The views across the moors were stunning, although we couldn't quite make out High Wilhays or Yes Tor through the cloud.  The wind was still strong, but this would mean a tail wind back to the van, so would be in our favour today.  

We headed back down to camp to finish packing up and checked over our camp area to make sure we had picked everything up and carried all of our rubbish home, leaving no trace that we had been there.  

 

Then it was time for a quick, refreshing swim in the stream.  Oliver was now embracing the world around him and was desperate to get in; not one for cold water, this was a challenge he set himself and was determined to do it. As Hayleigh had been the only one who packed her swimmers, the boys just wore their pants, providing great hilarity. Their facial expressions betrayed the temperature of the water with palpable accuracy. After this quick dip and once everyone had dried off we hiked back up to OP17, another observation point, and rejoined the main track. 

 

Here we were passed by 2 jeeps with military personnel, one of whom saluted us, clearly impressed that we had braved a night out in the wilds.  We were treated to a fast and wind-assisted descent back down to a ford crossing, which everyone negotiated successfully. 

Looking back from where we came.

 

We continued up a couple of steep climbs, past Oke Tor and back to Rowtor Car Park.  We loaded everything back into the van and headed back down into Okehampton for some much deserved pasties.

We used everything we took with us, apart from the football and frisbee, but that was largely down to the weather.  We now have a list of what we took, how we packed it and what we think may be useful additions for our next adventure (2 pairs of pants each!).  When we got home, we realised that our house is huge and it has so much stuff in it.  It brings home how little you need to survive and be happy, how much we are  influenced by society and how it impacts on our daily lives.

At home, we often hear a distracted or oblivious "Can I have more time?" called aimlessly down the stairs hoping to reach the ears of a willing parent, asking to play longer on their Switches, addicted to the hollow excitement that exists behind their screens.  There was nothing hollow in what they were experiencing now, they were fully plugged in and switched on.  They had experienced the wind from the eye of the storm, that they know to run from in Fortnite.  Absorbed the cold of the water, sending real shivers into their bones.  Appreciated the warmth of the cooked food and happy to share their environment with the nature that surrounded them.  Today, we were all engaged and present, anomalous attributes in society nowadays, no distractions of WiFi or instant communication, we were swimming upstream and then came the candid, direct request "Can we have moor time?" They wanted to stay another night, to experience more of this natural life, playing in the elements.  Thankfully this had indeed turned into one of those amazing experiences, proving valuable, worthy and fulfilling, that they had absolutely loved. 

Some more photos below.