Ahh. So I've decided to to something useful with myself. I've decided I want to start doing stuff for charity. Cancer Research to be exact. Theres a few people I've known who have suffered from cancer, my grandad, my partners grandad, 2 people I work with and so on.
I've always wanted to help out in some way, but I've not known how, so ive decided I want to start doing something.
Dartmoor Dartmoor is a massive national park a few miles from where I live. Its basically a pre-historic area which in the past used to be volcanic. Where the magma has been pushed up, it creates big tors. (See picture below) Its home to Okehampton army range, which hosts the Ten Tors. Ten Tors is an army course which allows teams from around the county to trek over 10 of these tors. In the past people have got lost and seriously injured themselves on this trek.
What Im Doing I will be attempting this trek on my own. I will be starting from the south side of the park, and walking to the north side. Its approx 50-60 miles depending on my route. I will be aiming to complete it in 2-3 days.
Dangers The park has over 400 miles of footpaths, 160 tors with the highest tor, high willhays (just over 2000 feet). Dartmoor is a range of open wilderness, deep valleys, high rocky tors, bogs and forests.
Getting lost Many people have got lost on dartmoor, with one recently making it into the papers. One of the most dangerous things that can happen on dartmoor is the fog. Because its generally quite high up, the clouds can cover it easily. The clouds are so incredibly thick sometimes visibility is reduced to no more than 5 meters (I've been caught out by this before : ).
Bogs The next most dangerous thing is the bogs and mires. This happens when it rains. The soil soaks up the rain and causes massive bogs which look like normal grass, but when you step in them, you sink. If you're lucky, you'll step on some type of rock, but if your unlucky, it'll easily swollow you up.
Day 1 - Training So now I've decided what to do, who to do it for, and when. Now comes the training. I've split the training into multiple sections:
Walking Training
Navigation Training
First Aid Training
Endurance Training
I've already done ten tors. I understand what needs to be done and how to do it. I've already gone through Navigation and first aid training. The most important step now is walking.
I start training on the weekend (Sunday 12th July) and will be walking from plymouth to sheeps tor (roughly 8 miles). I aim to do this walk once a fortnight in as many different weather types as possible.
More Information Im in the process of creating a webpage giving details about everything I plan on doing, from routes, to progress. When I actually start the trek, The website will provide live updates on my whereabouts, and also mini-blogs about what has happened so far. Ill keep you updated about the status of the website!
Donations If you want to donate money, I've set up a webpage which sends donations directly to cancer research upon completetion of the event. Every penny matters so It doesnt matter if you donate anything from 1p to £10. I appriciate everything. My target is a minimum of £500. http://www.justgiving.com/dartmoor_trek <-- Donations page
Thanks everyone Ill keep you as updated as possible.
Good on you Phil. I did something similar a coupla months back, but in Snowdonia - and that was just up and down Snowdon for Huntingtons Research. Going up Ben Nevis this week for the same cause.
I'll throw in a fiver for the cause when I get back, and wish you good luck.
:cheers:
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Charity Event - 50 Mile dartmoor trek: Training blog
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