East Dartmoor adventures on the Marin - Edited Extra Exmoor Epilogue

[hawkhill97]

I was based in West Berks but my job took me all over the country. I kept a Lava Dome single speed in the boot so I tried to ride after work as much as I could, (healthier than solo drinking in the hotel bar on expenses). I had quite a library of MTB ride books plus "tear out maps" from the magazines.
I've enjoyed your posts on Exmoor and Dartmoor, they reminded me of some great rides , particularily the "Exmoor Beast" and a Polaris.
Any way keep the "rides" coming please as I often go back to re read them.

That sounds like a great way to make the most of travelling around the country with work! Glad the pics and ride reports bring back happy memories.

 

[hawkhill97]

I was planning on doing another big day out on Exmoor this week, but the poor weather at the beginning of the week, and then just life in general, sort of got in the way.

However, I did manage to fit in a lovely afternoon ride yesterday with an overnight camp in one of my favourite spots on Exmoor.

 

[hawkhill97]

Starting out from near Malmsmead by Lorna Doone valley, I took some scenic back roads to climb up onto the top of the moor, coming out near the start of the excellent descent from Hawkcombe head to Porlock.



From here I picked up part of the bridleway network heading South back towards Badgworthy Valley. This route is waymarked as a Dark Skies discovery loop, and I can confirm that the stars are truly incredible on Exmoor if you get a clear night.



After a fairly punishing stint of climbing on the roads, which brought me out more or less on top of the moor, the bridleways contoured gently along the rides, with some lovely views down the valleys. A nice easy ride in contrast to the one earlier in the week on Dartmoor!

 

[hawkhill97]

Dropping back down into Badgworthy valley is an excellent little descent, short but pleasingly techy. Great fun to bomb down on a bigger bike, also great fun to pick your way down on a cross country retrobike



Once you get to the bottom, it's a gorgeous three or four mile cruise down the valley along the river back to Malmsmead. A real gem of a bridleway, this one.



And that was about that for the ride! Wish I'd had time for a proper all day excursion, but for an afternoon's blast it definitely hit the spot.

 

[hawkhill97]

Picked up the camping stuff from the car and headed back up the valley (definitely a route that bears re-riding well!).



The weather forecast was better overnight than earlier in the week on Dartmoor, so I'd taken a tarp & bivvy bag instead of a tent - a much nicer way to sleep outdoors in my opinion.




It wasn't a particularly chilly night, probably down to 7C or so, but without a tent to keep the wind off, you definitely need a good few layers on to stay warm. I was in thermals and a couple of fleeces, with a wooly hat on, and stayed toasty the whole night Got up at while it was dark and the sky was unfortunately a bit too hazy to really see the stars at their best - on a good night you can clearly see the milky way from here - but still a real treat.