Fingle Bridge to Black Dog
Today was a long, hot and overambitious day. The plan was to walk my parents house in Puddington (a couple of miles off route) where we could camp in my dad's field. This was already a long 16 mile section from Dewsteignton to Morchard Bishop and we were already off route at the start and were planning to add 4 miles at the end... We set off at half 7, refilled our water at Fingle Bridge and tackled the steep climb into Dewsteignton.
Back on route we headed out of Dartmoor. We actually passed the Peter Randall sculpture of which there is a mirror image of on the edge of Exmoor. However I didn't realise the significance of the boulder with holes in until later when trying to research another random sculpture pictured below of which I can find no record of on the internet.
We had quite a long section on roads today but we ploughed on passing through many fields and farms. Just before lunch we were chased by the first herd of cows. Chased is probably over dramatising it but we were followed to the stile by some over curious young cows who were getting a bit too close for comfort.
The online route guide describes the section between Dartmoor and Exmoor as rarely frequented and we didn't see a single other walker for the whole day. We did however see hundred of cows and sheep and even some alpacas. We eventually reached Morchard Bishop and waved to my old primary school which seems so small now, the route even goes through the school car park. I remember some hikers who were passing through speaking in one of our assemblies once.
We headed towards Morchard Wood but had another field of cows to cross. These again were far too curious and trotted very close behind us as we power walked towards the gate at the far corner. We had already conceded that my dad would collect us from the route at Black Dog so we didn't have to walk 2 miles extra off-route but with spirits low and no water left we made the call to be rescued a few miles earlier. In Puddington we had a lovely BBQ at camp Keatley and my dad had even rigged up a new shower which is perfect for anyone under 5'6". Clean and full of delicious food and cake we tucked in for an early night.
