Ill Concieved Plans Poorly executed

The Dartmoor Tors

Hound Tor

This was my introduction to the Dartmoor Tors. It was threatening to be a hot day and we had all had a wonderful weekend, now on bank holiday Monday we fancied something a little bit different. After the usual early morning guide book debate and cafe breakfast we headed for the moors. Hound Tor is a very popular place, there were walkers, day trippers and kite filers all around, and all parked in the car park which came complete with a Burger Van. We had brought all the climbing gear as the guide book at claimed that there where a number of short routes lurking around the tor but after a little bit of mucking about it became clear that bouldering was the order of the day. Once we had had the decision and put the ropes away problem after problem fell to the onslaught. All his activity culminated in a massive game of "Follow the leader" which came to an end when the skin was removed from everyone's fingers.

Bonehill Rocks

Bonehill rocks are just outside Widdecombe and a little along from hound tor. We pulled up into the car park jumped over the little stream and hey presto loads of little rocks and lots of large ones to play on. We attacked the little problems and the fairly large slab, but found they were friendly and wanted to play. Though out the day little groups of climbers came and went, each of them showing us some of their favourite problems hidden away in the jumble. A wonderful and friendly place.

Haytor

On the plus side its near the car park and ice cream van but on the minus side it's always surrounded by tourists. Now I really don't like being watched by a crowd of thrill seekers waiting for you to fall off or being given advice by some overweight beer swilling couch potato on his annual trip outside the house, so I didn't climb on it. I'm told that the climbing is interesting and bold. One day when no one is around I'll find out, but until then ...

Lowman

We first went to Low Man in the Morning, big mistake. The face had not been touched by the sun and the overwhelming gloom sucked away our will to climb. This is not a morning crag. A few days later we returned in the afternoon to find a totally different place, the whole of the face was bathed in sunlight and the climbing looked, well, pleasant. We tackled a few of the lower grade bits and made a mental note to return on another sunny afternoon.

Bench Tor

It took us ages to find this place, it would have been easier if we had parked at Ventford Reservoir, but no, we had to stroll up the river Dart and then flounder around in the undergrowth whilst climbing up a slope to approximately the right place and the after finding it was the wrong place consult the map and wander round a bit before stumbling on to Bench Tor. After all that we really where not in the mood to climb. All the routes looked far too hard so we went home with our tails between our legs.

Coombeshead Tor

Way up on a hill a long walk from anywhere is Coombshead Tor. It is made up of a host of small boulders and a pleasant amphitheatre which is guarded by a dinosaur shaped rock. We played on the boulders for most of the afternoon and when there was no skin on our fingertips and our arms would no longer hold us to the rocks we took the short stroll over a few fields to see on of Dartmoor's lines of standing stones.

Coombehill Tor

We were coming back from somewhere and there was plenty of sunlight left, neither of us really wanted to fester about the campsite waiting for a decent hour to go to the pub; too early and we would run out of cash, too late and we would have to cook our own food. We employed the usual tacktic of taking a wrong turn and heading across the moors at speed whilst consulting maps and guidebooks when on the skyline appeared Coombehill Tor. Lets Go there! We pulled up in the car park and sauntered over to the rocks. We played on this little solid climbing frame as the sun slowly set and our dog ran round and round. We had to cook our own food that night.

West Mill Tor

We could have parked on the military road by the tor and wandered up but it was a sunny day and we where in no hurry, so we parked at the nearby reservoir and wandered aimlessly across the moor until the heap of rock on the sky line turned out the be the tor we where looking for. It was a wonderful place looking out over the surrounding moor, ideal for a picnic and even better for a little bit of traversing and bouldering. In fact the traversing was the high light of the day as it was possible to traverse almost all of this tor.

Sheepstor

I'm not really sure if Sheepstor is a tor or a crag. It has all the feeling of a crag and a fair number of routes that kept us entertained for hours but was still a lump of granite at the top of a hill which is about the best definition for a tor that I have.

Luckey Tor

Part of the fun of climbing on the tors is getting to them. Some of them have a convient car park and ice cream van where as others require a small expedition to find them. Luckey Tor needs an expedition. We parked at Dartmeet and prepared ourselves with tea and biscuits from the cafe before starting our trek downstream along the side of the swollen river. It had rained heavily the day before and every thing was damp, from the moss hanging from the trees to the moss under foot. After a while a clearing appeared, it would have been ideal for a picnic had it not been quite so damp. Hiding behind a few trees was the tor, I always thought that tors where at the top of hills but this one was definitely at the bottom. This lump of granite had routes on it, it said so in the guide book. We had a go at some of the easier routes to get a feel for the rock and it felt rough and dirty. One of these easier routes featured an obvious crack followed by a wild swing out on an overhang, we tried some of the harder routes but fell off