September 17, 2007 "The Tor-ists Hit the Moor"

Scavenging was on the agenda today! After another great breakfast and packing our lunches at the cottages, the entire group headed into Tavistock so Andy could purchase a new set of gators while the rest of us shopped for an hour in this quaint town. We had an hour to walk around town and pick up a souvenir or two. Tavistock was just a few miles from home with The Baker's Dozen so the returning members found the town familiar as we had stopped here several times before.

At our appointed time, we set off and parked the vans. As the group entered the moorland through the usual Dartmoor gate, we spotted a couple of Brits coming our way. Come to find out, they were letterboxing for only their second time. They were introduced to boxing by the caravan (camping) owner, where they were staying on holiday, who had planted a set of clues for all those who stay on the property. During our conversation, they mentioned a coming trip to Disney World in Florida so I gave them the URL's for Letterboxing.org and AtlasQuest.com so they could print out some clues for the area when they visited.

As we were talking to the newbie boxers, a troop of the British army went by while Jennifer was still holding the gate for our group. You can see by the picture that she was more than intrigued by those in-shape young men jogging with their, what looked to be, 75 pound packs on their backs. I imagine Jen was trying to help them along and be a good hiker!

Before the group set off, I explained how we would utilize those innovative aluminum whistles that Sue had bought the other members of the group. When Sue brought them home after a shopping expedition, I asked "What the heck are we going to do with these?" She excitedly said "To use when we find a box in Dartmoor!" As it turned out, the group used these whistles every day and they ended up being a great communication tool. One point for Sue!

Last trip, we would just yell and wave our hands when someone found a box. This time, Sue planned on us blowing our whistles so I explained to the group that a long whistle would signify that someone had found a box. Three short bursts of the whistle would serve as a distress signal that meant someone was in trouble and needed help right away. So off we set out to scavenge along the valley below Arm Tor. Jennifer found the first box of the day. And the whistles began to fill the valley with found boxes by other Tor-ists!

As we boxed that day, I came upon Irene from Hikers & Hounds who was laying on a flat rock at the top of Arm Tor where she seemed to be drinking in the view. "I never knew it would be this beautiful!" she told me. She was moved to tears (something that I would eventually get used to which was usually accompanied by a fanning motion of her hand to her face) by the beauty of the moor; something that I have experienced on many occasions.

Yes, it is so difficult to describe or capture in photos the true beauty of this place. "It's and unlikely beauty" was the way RTRW described it - a perfect description. As she walked up the hill to Arm Tor, Rebecca (RTRW) turned to me and said "I get it now." We had another convert in our flock of Tor lovers. In a post trip email from Andy, he remarked that it seemed like more of this group understood the beauty and the history of what made the moor so special and that we had, on this trip, less emphasis on finding boxes but enjoying the beauty. I wholeheartedly agree that this group "got it." I feel a the main reason for that was that The Baker's Dozen were in Dartmoor for only 4 days since the other 3 were in London and we our only goal was that Dartmoor 100 patch and kept to a strict schedule of finding boxes. This time, all of us that returned had reached that goal and it was easier to stop and smell the tors, so to speak.

After finding many boxes, the group stopped for lunch as the rain and sun played tag above! Some of the group had started to climb Arm Tor so they ate their lunch where they were. Others found a rocky area to spread out and enjoy a quick bite between boxes. After scouting out the top of Arm Tor, the group headed towards Widgery Cross, a famous landmark on the moor and Brat Tor. There were breathtaking views of the farmland below as the group headed towards the cross on the hill single file like so many ducks in a row.

At some point that afternoon, someone noticed that Irene had torn her new hiking pants; most likely on that flat rock where she had been enjoying the view several hours before. Someone produced duct tape and Jennifer and Dave did a quick repair job on Irene's hiking pants. It seems we've added another to the thousands of uses for duct tape. While it was a quick repair job, it seemed to hold and do the trick.

Everyone took pictures at the top of the cross and we scavenged the area; upping our F count to a total of 26 boxes for the day. Feeling fulfilled and happy but a little on the thirsty side, we stopped at the Fox & Hounds Pub for a quick pint and some of the boxes they had housed under their roof. Refreshed after a quick pint and wanting something more substantial, we set off for Princetown for a dinner at the Plume & Feathers Pub where Mark had so kindly made reservations for our group. The Plume was the first place The Baker's Dozen had eaten several years before on the first night of our arrival. Most of this group ordered-fish & chips (a whole fish!) or bangers & mash (sausages and mashed potatoes.) They had reserved the back most room for us and a few others were in the adjoining area.

After dinner, the group split up into 2 groups - a group that headed back to Blackadon (of which Sue & I were a part) and another group that stayed behind with Andy to join in the Trivia Night at the Prince of Wales Pub located very close to the Plume & Feathers. The emcee of the evening was Irish Sean and our group - consisting of Andy, Irene, RTRW, Jennifer, Rusty Puff and Sewsobizzy used the team name "Inky Fingers" which we thought was quite appropriate.

It seems the bar's cat, Henry the Cat, was a legend in the area for being quite untouchable. But our RTRW tamed the wild beast and held him for a while which earned her a newfound respect with the locals. When Irene got up at one point to hit the ladies room, RTRW noticed that her jacket had stuck to her duct tape on Irene's hiking pants and she was walking through the pub with a trailing jacket. Rebecca tried to gracefully pull it off of Irene but, from the story we heard, made it even worse!

After that incident, the group came up with a Torn Pants Song
that went like this:


"I ripped my pants and my arse is hanging out,
My arse is hanging out; my arse is hanging out.
I ripped my pants and my arse is hanging out,
Sure looks cheeky to me!"


It seems they did us proud since they were in 2nd place out of a total of 5 teams when they left the bar shortly after midnight which was half time; leaving the bar to a rousing round of applause. We understand that Irene was killer on the music questions. After leaving the bar, Andy took the girls (he's a saint, I tell ya!) to a tor to view the stars at night so they could enjoy the heavens without any ground lights. They were so impressed that we all planned to do the very same thing with the entire group later in the week but we never had a clear night in which to try it.

The rest of the group went home to Blackadon while Andy and the girls played trivia. It was a relaxing night in our "cozies" (those flannel pants that we all brought to lounge around in after hours.) When the group came home later that night, we got to hear the story of Irene with her magic coat tail, Henry the Cat and had a command performance, with hand and butt gestures, of the Torn Pants Song!

Needless to say - it was another very full day!