u/LittleBrownHare

Another evening, another camping fail. 😔
Given I was pushing it for time last weekend, I thought I'd make it more challenging this weekend and arrived an hour later, with surprisingly, the same result!

Despite that 'twas a lovely evening and with the sun going down earlier (and me poking about), watching night slip across South Hams as the stars brightened was spectacular.

Parked in Avonwick, walked through the lanes out to Wrangaton > poked about on the southern tip for a bit > Wrangaton > Avonwick.

20km walk. +/- 550mtr gain. ~20℃ sunny, very gentle breeze to start with - dropping to ~15℃ and (measured) 15-18kmh / 28kmh gusts on the top, back to ~18℃ and very gentle breeze back in the Avon valley.

Nobody else on the hill, but I was hyper-sensitive about pitch location and hyper-sensitive to the wind last night - so despite much faffing around looking for a spot to either pitch up or to just bivvy, I gave up (again) and walked back down to Avonwick.

It's been way to hot for getting up on the moors in recent weeks, but my timing worked out for an overnighter last night (not that I got one, but that was on me) ...

Straight-forward out 15km out and back from Wrangaton > Three Barrows > Wrangaton.

+/- 380mtr gain. ~23℃ strong sun, gentle breeze to start with, ~20℃ and very stiff easterly breeze at the top (which wasn't forecast) ... dropping to ~15℃ and fairly still back in Wrangaton.

Route: Wrangaton > Spurrells Cross > up the trackway past Piles Hill (1) > on up to Three Barrows (2, 3). This was option 1 for sleeping out, but a). Black Phillip was up there with his caprid coven, and b). as the sun dropped in the sky the easterly really picked up - so I noped out and came back down. Through Sharp Tor (4,5) then down to Piles Hill (6) unsuccessfully looking for a spot, finally going across towards Ugborough Beacon (7,8) - which was much less windy - but given the time of day, already had at least three tents on it ... so I binned the whole thing off and went home, which added a bit of extra adventure getting and then failing to get the last bus of the day.

So, the key take-away here is not to leave pitching-up until you are out of options.

Still, 'twas nice to be back on the moor - plus it was a useful packing / rucking practice - and with walk 'tween bus stops - a bonus 24km walk overall.

Aura AG LT65 in WM/L

As you'll see I'm not the primary user this bag built for / aimed at - and as such this bag was nowhere near my shortlist. I only tried it on as a kinda last resort on the day as I'd not found anything in this size that fitted the way I wanted ... but I'm super glad I did as the fit turned out to be pretty much perfect.

For fine tuning I carried ~12kg - made up of 8kg bird seed, 2kg water, ~2kg of clothing.
Most of the bulk is my winter bag / clothing which was just shoved in.

Actual load-out in use will be lower weight / volume, but a bit more capacity will scale for winter overnighters.

For 'bag-size-to-person-comparison' I'm 181cm and ~74kg, but the photo probably isn't especially helpful as the photo is a screen grab from a 360º camera, so the POV is a bit odd ...

27km out to Wembury and back in along the SWCP.

+/- 680mtr gain. ~23℃, humid - sea mist, full sun.

Mixture of dull-but-necessary 20thC urban walking to start - more interesting and much older urban sections at the end - country lanes and the coast through the middle (not that I could see far in the mist).

The Rhino marks the remains of Palaeolithic rhino's, hyenas, and mammoths found in the nearby bone caves at Oreston & Cattedown, and more recently at the new Sherford development just up the road.

Route: Plymstock Pomphlett Lake Rhino (1) > Plymstock - via Burrow Hill Memorial (2) > out to Wembury (3) > down to Warren Point on the Yealm (4 & 5) > then back along the SCWP back to Pomphlett Lake via Mount Battern / Turnchapel: Coastline (6,7,8) - Bovisand Bay (9) - Jennycliff (10, 11) - Hooe Lake (12 & quick video of Radford Castle)

(Linked photos are indicated in brackets)

Mid-May 36km loop around Rame Head on the SWCP (via Plymouth city centre).
+/- 750mtr gain.

The views go on for ever, so there's multiple spots to sit and have a nice cup of tea, (if you remember your stove 🙄).

Route: Plymouth (railway station) > Royal William Yard > ferry > Cremyll > Millbrook (01) > up over the ridge to (02) > Whitstand Bay (03) > along the beach (04) > Rame Head & it's Chapel (05, 06, 07 & a short bit of video) > Penlee Point (& Queen Adelaide's grotto) (08) > Cawsand/Kinsand > Mt Edgcumbe Deer Park (09) > Cremyll > ferry > RWY > Plymouth (railway station).

(Linked photos are indicated in brackets)

This little one was very fragile, evidently time and weather have taken their toll.
Found in an unnamed tin stream in the middle of the southern moor.

23km around the top end of the Southern Moor.
The top end is pretty rolling and undifferentiated, so only +/- 540mtr gain today, but it's hard going up there.
Dangerously close to the other side of the Dart too ...

Full sun all day so I was grateful for my sun umbrella, even fighting with it in the constant westerly wind. Recorded temperature was ~21℃ on average,

Pretty squelchy underfoot for most of the way around - but given endless stretches of wearying trackless, tick-filled long-grass, I wore shoes most of the day.

Combestone Tor > O Brook (1) > Henroost (2) > Bottom end of Skir Grit > open moorland (3) > Ter Hill (4) > Childes Tomb (5) > Crane Hill (6) > Plym Head > Great Gnats head (7 & 8) > Erme Pits > Red Lake > Green Hill (10) > Nakers hill (11) > Wellaby Gulf > Combestone Tor

(Relevant linked photos are in brackets)

Walking just to the west of the city centre over the River Irwell, before the rain arrived.

Surprisingly this came out as an 11km loop with +/- 400mtr elevation gain (& loss).

Rolling mists, strong, gusting westerly wind and occasionally quite wet underfoot, (I was barefoot, so just wet). I recorded ~13℃ on average - but didn't take my anemometer so no data on windspeed nor windchill - but it felt properly chilly standing about on the tops.

Wrangaton (Moor Gate) > Western Beacon > Butterdon Hill (1) > Hobajons Cross) (2) > Piles Hill (3, looking towards Ugborough Beacon, 4 looking up the Erme) > Spurrells Cross > Ugborough Beacon (5) > Wrangaton.

(Linked photos are indicated in brackets)

Curious to see if that 'trough' at Beacon Rocks is in the HER ... but it's not.

26km loop around the Redlake spoil-heap volcano taking in the heads of the Aune (Avon), Erme and Plym. +/- 780mtr gain.

Hazy sunshine, with a stiffening easterly breeze through the day.
Pretty much perfect walking conditions, wet going underfoot - but comfortably so and the Molinia was largely managable.

Cross Furzes > Puppers (1) > Ryders Hill (and a glimpse at the terra incognita of the northern moors) (2) > Aune Head > endless morass of Nakers Hill (et al) (4) > Blacklane Mire (3) > Plym Head > Gt Gnats Head (5) > (then picked up the Abbots Way) Erme Pits (6) > quick divert to Redlake (7) > Aune Valley (8) to Huntington Cross > Cross Furzes.

(Linked photos are indicated in brackets)

Only saw one person the entire day. 🤔
Hello to Thomas if you are reading this.
Hope you enjoyed your night bikepacking on the moors.