East Dartmoor adventures on the Marin

[hawkhill97]

Another short climb took me to the top of the valley between me and Hound Tor. The plan was to head down into the woods pictured below, then back up the other side. I knew from the OS map that this was going to be one of the steeper climbs & descents of the day, but it definitely looked bigger than I was expecting in real life!



Quick cup of tea, snack, admire the Dartmoor ponies...



And we're off!!



As you can see from the pic, the route down the valley was pretty technical as well as rather steep in places, and I'm not ashamed to say I ended up walking the rougher bits!

The rock gardens quickly gave way to smoother trails, and the open hills to woodland, and I soon picked up some lovely rocky singletrack running to the valley bottom.

 

[hawkhill97]

Uh-oh!

Came across these chaps in need of assistance - flat tyre and no pump/tools. I always carry a pretty full-on tool kit so I was happy to have the opportunity to make use of it for a change, and patched the tube for them, while having a bit of a breather after that last descent.




As well as being pretty, turns out river crossings are also really useful when you need to locate a tiny pin-prick hole in an inner tube and need a stream of bubbles to help!

 

[hawkhill97]

The climb back up the valley towards Hound Tor was just as tough as I'd expected. About half way up are the remains of an ancient settlement. I'd considered camping here, but thought it's probably a protected historical site, and had a good alternative location in mind further along the route.



Urgh, more pushing... and definitely more tea & cake required!



Hound Tor is another spot that's unfortunately often rather crowded with tourists, but I had the North side all to myself today.

 

[hawkhill97]

It was now about 3.30pm and I was getting a tiny bit worried that it was going to be really late in the day by the time I got back to the car, let alone thought about pitching camp. Fortunately the next bit of the route involved a couple of miles of road links, and some faster, smoother bridleway riding along "Jay's grave".



One last climb to go up to the top of Easdon Tor... finished the last of the tea & cake here too!



Since I was starting to run low on food & drink, I ended up not making it to Easdon Tor at the top of the hill, but turned off on a bridleway contouring along the hill and heading back towards Lustleigh. It turned out to be one of the highlights of the ride - clearly a popular MTB trail, with a few built berms & drops, and mostly on the perfect gradient that allows you to maintain good flowy speed without having to be on the brakes much if at all. A real treat and just what I needed on tired legs!

 

[hawkhill97]

On to the home stretch, on quiet back roads and bridleways back towards Lustleigh.



Wait... I said the climb to Easdon Tor was supposed to be the last one... damnit, I forgot about the climb up from Pecks Farm! No photos for this one - by this time I was out of snacks & drink and just wanted to get it over with. Steep bastard push-up of a climb!

More than worth it though, once you get to Hunters Tor at the top. Even better, I found a last emergency cake bar in my bag to celebrate with!

 

[hawkhill97]

From here on it really was all down hill back to the car, a mix of open flowy trails and wooded rooty rocky singletrack. The latter was at the top end of what I'm comfortable riding on the Marin (especially when knackered!), and clearing the trickier features required a bit of focus and concentration, and was immensely satisfying.



Final treat of the day was my favourite rock on Dartmoor, from which there are beautiful views down the Bovey valley.



The perfect end to the perfect ride

Another mile or so of trail running down through the woods brought me back to the car at around 5:30pm. Fortunately I had plenty of reserve water and food in the boot, and even another thermos of tea. Since it was already late in the day, I decided to pop my bike in the car, grab my camping stuff, and walk back up towards Hunters Tor, as there are a few good wild camping options around the area.

The weather had been perfect (if quite windy) all day, but the forecast was for rain overnight. So rather than take a bivvy bag & tarp as I normally would, I brought a tent with me. Pitched up, brewed up some tea, and got some lentil curry on the go. Life doesn't get much better!

 

[hawkhill97]

The weather did indeed come in overnight as forecast - very windy, and enough rain to have made a bivvy/tarp set-up quite unappealing. Staying dry & toasty in the tent, and decamped nice and early for a bowl of porridge and a short hike back to the car.

Definitely going to have to come back and do this loop again, it was a stunner!

 

[hawkhill97]

Also took a few wildflower pics along the way...

Heath speedwell


Stonecrop & sheeps sorrel


More stonecrop


Foxglove (there were loads of these on the route, spotted through the bracken)


Heath bedstraw


Common cow wheat


And this wonderful oil beetle - a regular spot around Lustleigh cleave, but impressive every time you see one

 

[hawkhill97]

Cheers if you made it this far!

 

[ferrus]

Thoroughly enjoyed that! Looks like a fantastic ride through a lovely area. Great photos too!