My intention in Dartmoor is to walk to its highest point. This is known as High Willhays (stop sniggering at the back), and it stands at 2,037 feet (621 metres) above sea level. I then intend to walk to its second highest point known as Yes Tor, which stands at 2,031 feet (619 metres). Then I'm going to go home, completely ignoring the third highest point and everything else (I just looked it up - Cut Hill and Hangingstone Hill both stand at 1,978 feet or 603 metres). The reason why I'm only interested in these two particular points is that I think High Willhays is a 'mountain', I think Yes Tor might be a 'mountain' and I don't think there are any other 'mountains' (or even might be 'mountains') in Southern England. So, because Yes Tor is right next to High Willhays and only requires a small descent and re-ascent if you're already up there, I'm thinking I may as well climb this while I'm here, just in case I decide later it is a 'mountain'.
I'm driving through thick fog and I've just remeber that I've forgotten my compass. These are not ideal conditions for walking around Dartmoor unless you are filming a ghost story. However, as I climb up the roads from the coast to the moor I pass through the blanket of fog and the sun shines brightly. The walk is back on.
I park in the car park at the reservoir. and set out along the path to the reservoir. The reservoir is pretty impressive. Set with walls of brown stone that make up the surrounding hillsides and a dam along the top of which the footpath onto Dartmoor runs. Looking down over the edge of the dam reminds me of the opening scene of Goldeneye were James Bond bungee jumps off a dam, OK maybe this one isn't quite as high, but it is high enough for someone to have gone to the effort of throwing their television off and scoring a direct hit on a concrete pillar below. It must have been a Saturday. There's never anything good on TV on Saturdays since Mr T's knees went and they had to axe the A-team.
I meander round the sheep poo along the rest of the dam to the wide open gate at the end. There's a sign on the gate 'Please Shut This Gate'. Presumably because the sheep keep pooing all over the dam. I shut the gate behind me and follow the path uphill. This first hill is essentially the start of the climb up High Willhays and Yes Tor but blocks my view of both of them, so I'm still unsure what I'm letting myself in for. By the top of this little climb I'm already shattered and I can see there's plenty more to come. I pass a red and white pole marking the boundary of the army firing range I am entering - it's OK I've already checked on the MOD website that there is no firing scheduled for today.
My next problem is a surprising one. I can't find a great big mountain. There are four large hills in front of me, but which one am I supposed to be climbing? I have a map, but without a compass its actually quite different to orientate it and work out which hill is which. The height difference between them is not enough at this distance to make it obvious which two are the largest and because you cannot see the whole shape of the hill its tricky matching it to the contour lines on the map at this distance. I decide on a particular hill and start heading towards that, but then realise that there's a deep valley running along the bottom and this doesn't match the contour line drop between the two hills on the map. I decide that that the valley is likely to be all I can see of the river on my map and that in actual fact I'm heading towards the wrong hill. However, I'm not too far off track and can just veer over towards a gentler slope of High Willhays. Such are the perils of not having a compass. I just lucky its a bright sunny clear day. If the fog had reached up to the moor the entire day would have been a write off.
By half eight I'm on top of the High Willhays bathed in bright morning sunshine and having a moment of euphoria. It's been two years since I last climbed a mountain and I've missed it. High Willhays itself is a strange summit a small rocky outcrop, which despite being slightly taller is somewhat dominated by Yes Tor next to it, who's summit consists of a much larger rocky part with a flag pole and trig point. It's a short walk to the path that leads between the two summits and soon I am on top of Yes Tor.
There's much more going on on this summit. There are army lockups dotted around the summit and you can see how the how summit must act as a natural fort for the army to practice attacking during their exercises. I then head back down towards the reservoir through the black cattle that have congregated around the border of the firing range. I'm back in Instow for an early lunch by half ten very much invigorated by my walk.
