Friday 25 June 2010

Mist it

The Dartmoor mist is infamous. The mainstream media can hardly utter the word Dartmoor without mentioning its 'notorious' sudden fogs which can roll in and disorrientate even the experienced navigator.

They encourage all who venture into the park to be prepared for them, even if its a June day with a weather forecast of hot, dry and sunny. Take your map, compass, full waterproofs, and your wits about you, because that mist will turn up without any warning. One minute: perfect, next minute: nothing.

It was with wits and waterproofs about us that on a recent June day we went to Devils Tor. The forecast said hot, dry and sunny but by the time we reached Beardown Man we were fighting zero visibility. We saw the misty level from the car park, but continued anyway, after all, we aren't warned about walking into the fog, just of the fog descending on to us! Duh!


However, stumbling around in thick mist reminded us of our moral about rain, and the novelty soon wore off. We were on the verges of giving up, when something the media hadn't prepared us for happened. One minute: nothing. Next minute: perfect! The mist rose, the sun shone, and our walk wasn't ruined! Hooray!

1 comment:

4 Winds said...

Love it when it's claggy like that - the tors look huge as they loom out of the mist, particularly Longaford!