Dartmoor

Sorry that I didn't post this yesterday. But I was so tired when I got back. We were supposedly supposed to get back at 6pm. We didn't get back until 10pm. But there were some complications, like people's cars not working, that delayed us from getting started. I rode in a car with Daz, Rachel, Ben and Liv. It was good times. The road we took to get there was a B road. If you think about a county road, paved but just wide enough to have two cars, that is a B road. Although, there were a couple of times where it was like a glorified one way road. We even met a tractor pulling hay, so it was kind of like home.

When we finally got everyone together in one place, two of the cars needed to get gas, so they left some of us by the "river" (I would call is a stream) until they got back. For the first time I pulled my "I'm an American" card to aid some ladies in making it to the toilets. There was a wedding going on at the inn we stopped at to get tea, so we didn't really have access to the space. But me, being an American, having to go to the bathroom decided to use their facilities anyway. Liv and Rachel also needed to go, when I came out they asked me if I used the restroom in the inn. I said yes of course. I'll tell you where it is. They, being English, said that's okay, I can't go in there now. But I finally persuaded them that it was okay and I would go with them and they can blame it all on me, the American, if we got into any kind of trouble, which we didn't. Hopefully I don't have to use that card again for a while.

Then we finally started our hike. I don't know how far we walked, but we started on a path and then kind of found our way from there. We were along the stream the whole time, so we couldn't get lost. I saw many a sheep. There were eve some for up-close-and-personal viewing, if you like sheep that much. When we got off the path we started to climb over some rocks. Then the rocks started to become covered in moss. When I looked up we were in a wooded area. (see picture above.) It was so beautiful in there. I could have taken more pictures in there.

Then the person with the map, Rob and el presidente of Nooma, decided we should cross the stream. Now I have to give the stream some credit. You can't just jump across this stream, and it's very cold. So we walk through a small bog to get to the stream and the guys are just jumping from stone to stone, having a great time. I just want to get to the other side. So I just find my own way over.

Then we have the choice to head back along the stream, through the bog, or we can climb the tore. I think yeah, let's climb the tore. Well, a tore is a huge hill, like huge! The guys at the front start running up this hill. I don't know how they did it, but they did. By the time I got halfway up my heart was pounding in my ears. It was steep and so tall. But I finally made it to the top. And it was totally worth it. Being on top made me think of Nebraska and the plains. It was so good. (Pic #2 is at the top of the tore.)

Then we had to make it down the hill before the sun set, we were kind of pushing it. The guys in the lead decided that it would be good to cut back across the stream. So they headed down the hill. Well about half way down it turned into a bog again. My shoes had stayed relatively dry until this point. There was some knobby grass that you can stand on, but you slide off of it very easily. So my feet were submerged in muddy, boggy water a couple of times. And I fell over once or twice. So at the bottom of the hill we have to cross the stream again. The guys say "you have to jump here, we went up stream a bit and couldn't find anywhere to cross." I looked about seven feet up stream and there was a perfectly good place to cross. So I did, while everyone else jumped. I was quite proud of myself for that one. The last pic is when we were almost back to the cars. All the bushes on the hillside there are prickely and very nasty. I had two slivers, for lack of a better word, in my hand by the time we left. Very dangerous.

After we got back to the cars we went to a nearby town, Wincombe, and ate at a pub there. It was a bit awkward, cause I didn't sit anywhere near the other girls, they were tucked away in the corner booth, while I was on the end. The guys around me didn't talk to me a whole bunch, they were nice, and polite. We talked about American politics a bit. But I was tired and had just eaten, and thus very sleepy. But it was a wonderful day. I would do that again in a heart beat.