This weekend saw the first overnight training walk for the prospective 35 mile Ten Tors team. The weekend began bright and early at 07.45 on Saturday. The team travelled up to Dartmoor and headed out from Combestone Tor and over towards Princetown, Nun’s Cross before the long slog back to Harford, just north of Ivybridge. A long walk over rough terrain but everyone made it.

As the light began to fade the team put up their tents and started cooking their dinner in preparation for their first night on the moors as a Ten Tors team. There was an interesting variety of options for dinner with most of the team opting for Army style heat in the bag ration pack meals. Beans and sausages, Chicken Tikka Masala and noddles were all seen bubbling away on the camping stoves.

Then the rain started. For the remainder of the night and the following day it rained. Heavy rain, gale force winds and poor visibility set the tone for the rest of the training weekend. This posed problems for taking down tents, and more importantly, made navigation tricky on the moor. So tricky, the experienced 55 mile team lost their way early on Sunday morning, after some guidance, they were back on track towards Red Lake.

Despite incredibly challenging conditions, both teams did very well this weekend. It allowed them to experience Dartmoor and how difficult it can become in poor visibility and wet conditions. Well done!