Christmas has come and gone. The weather has been fairly wet and wild and Jackie and I have managed a few walk-abouts. Mostly kept off the higher moor by the wild winds. As Jackie was busy this am I thought I would take myself off for a wander. Nothing too strenuous but as Les and I had been chatting yesterday over another Weatherspoon's Eggs Benedict breakfast about a camp I did last summer with Tim and Peter I thought I would take the opportunity to check it out today.

The met was not good but hey this is Dartmoor in winter. It's never that good in the summer!

Despite appearances it was very windy coming at you from the West. It didn't help out or back it merely kept blowing you sideways.

Looking North. Were off up there somewhere.

An ancient grave. Looking North.

This stream is the path down to the river normally.

Campfire spot 1. No.

Campfire Spot 2. No.

Another view  of 2.

Campfire Spot 3. No.



The usual Camp Fire spot 3.  Sat in a puddle!

I have been sleeping under a poncho in the lee of this wall on and off for more years than I can remember.

Camp Fire Spot 3.

At least I managed to get a fire going for a brew. All natural materials gathered on the way in today.

After an hour playing around and brewing up I headed back South.

Tim's hammock tree.

Far too many right angles. I think I also spotted chisel marks.



Old Man's Beard.



Plenty of fallen dead wood.

Still blowing a hoolie from the West on the return journey.

Windy and cold but a beautiful day for all that.

Harkan 2017 Pre Xmas Camp out.

Maisie had organized a Pre Xmas Camp out for those Sweden Harkanites of 2017 that could make the date. Alas as with so many arrangements made close in to Xmas one is always fighting the diary. It was agreed that we would meet at The Punch Bowl and Ladel Inn at Feock for 1300 hrs. http://www.punchbowlandladle.com/



We Stopportons thought we would take advantage of being this far down into Cornwall to visit Tim's Provodore Resto for one of Bev's Saturday morning breakfasts. I say Bev, as of course Bev also has a great following in the resto. We were fortuneate that whilst polishing off our Eggs Benedict that Tim called in and we managed a lengthy chat. It was great to catch up again. The talk seemed to centre around woollen blankets and Tim suggested I take myself to Exeter Surplus Stores in search of a couple.

Inside Provedore Restaurant Falmouth

 We had some time on our hands and took a small detour around past the docks and Falmouth Castle to the point. The wind was fairly whipping up the channel here and Jackie was somewhat reluctant, indeed she refused to get out of the van. It was gloriously sunny but so cold. Wind chill. We could see away in the distance the entrance to Dave's Percuil River.

We arrived at The Punch bowl at about the same time as Mel and Les, ordered drinks and found a cosy nook. There are plenty of those in this olde worlde pub. Alas the mulled wine was off. Or rather not on. Having eaten very well at Tim's earlier this am we were not that hungry for lunch but managed some soup and a roll.

With lunch finished we made our way 'to the woods' here we set up our respective tents and ponchos. There is a permanent 'shelter' here in the woods which was extremely well appointed. I had anticipated a night under the poncho but as the others had their tents Jackie and I took advantage of the straw bales and would later in the evening crash on these beside the fire.

With light failing fast now Maisie set about lighting a fire whilst Dave Mel and Les collected some firewood. 

Maisie demonstrating the correct stance for wood chopping.

Father Xmas or should that be Mother Xmas brings gifts.

 

Les and Mel prepare more wood for the fire.

Jackie cracked open the bottles of mulled wine she had brought and Mike put this on the fire to warm. A few mugfulls of this and soon the stronger stuff started to appear.

 

Mulled wine heating through.

Drinking invariably leads on to food and as we had brought jacket potatoes to cook with our steak we put these on. Then had another drink. Mel and Les were on stew which they had finished before our spuds were cooked. Some peas and carrots, Portobello mushrooms with melted cheese topping and sliced Montana Toms made up our meal. All cooked on the skillet over the fire. Dave had some home made pasta which no sooner had he warmed he spilt all over the floor. "Ten second  rule" we all shouted in unison!




As the night fell the little people started to appear.

Soon even more strange creatures emerged from the woods.

Even these strange eyeless toe hugging tree hoppers put in an appearance.

Having wined and dined most Royally it was time to turn in. The night was nowhere as cold as it might have been and the rain held off. A pretty goods nights sleep was enjoyed.

Jackie snug as a bug!



Poor old Mike on the floor again!

The next morning Mike and Maisie soon had a fire going for a brew and we cooked bacon on the skillet. Some had porridge.

Check out Maisie's JimJams!

Jay called over just as we were finishing breakfast then it was down to the River to launch the canoes for a couple of hours paddle. This was broken into two legs, the out and back by another fire, brew up and bacon and egg banjo.

Anyone remember the Robert Redford film, Jeremiah Johnson?

Jackie is the spitting image of Bear Claw from that film don't you think!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcsXC2xFis4



Trebarwith Strand to Port Gaverne.

The Met promised good weather but that was not apparent at Trebarwith Strand. It was wild.

As there were four of us The Stopporton's dropped their vehicle at Port Gaverne then travelled with Mel and Les to the start point at Trebarwith Strand. It was wet wild and woolly here. The tiny rocky cove was awash with huge breakers blowing ashore. The high tide added to the malevolence of the scene.

Trebarwith Strand. Literally the end of the road.

1. The start was up, isn't it always? 204 steps, Jackie counted each one. The tab was only a short six miles today as we were due at Padstow's Metropole Hotel for a Champagne High Tea for 1500hrs. A good reason to get a wiggle on. Slightly disconcerting was this 'eye' set into the wall. An omen for good or.....?

Eye eye.

The rock pinnacle due N of us is Gull Rock,

opposite Trebarwith Strand, our start.

Les and Sam looking like stunt doubles from 'Hondo'.

We had started walking at 0815hrs and it was now 0935 hrs. Les called a halt for a quick coffee from the Thermos. There was a keen wind blowing along the cliff path but the view out to sea was as clear as a bell. Indeed, far out to sea, we spotted HMS Queen Elizabeth RO8. Easily spotted by virtue of her twin 'islands'. At this juncture we were seemingly walking faster than she was sailing. She is still undergoing trials and will not be commissioned till late 2017.

Coffee  break over we continued the roller coaster path that invariably is the SWC path, especially on this coastline. Before we knew it lunch was upon us. I say lunch but I do not really believe we needed any scran at that stage. I had eaten a couple of Weetabix and a slice of toast about 0700hrs before we set off. Jackie munched on a few home made buns and a banana, Les set about a baguette that was the size of a telegraph pole. I did think that we could always hollow it out and make a canoe but by the time these thoughts occurred to me most, if not all the baguette had disappeared.

Fixing our position on the map it seemed we only had another 2 K to walk. This, given the ease of the cliff path now was soon completed. Whilst the girls dropped downhill into Port Gaverne and the pub for a coffee, Les and I walked on up to where we had left our vehicle. We drove to Trebarwith Strand to collect his car and whilst he returned to PG to collect the girls I drove back to Mullets and a shower before we all RV'd and after a quick shower and a change of clothes we managed to catch the 1400hrs ferry for Padstow and a Fat Boy cream Tea.