What follows is a personal account of my 3.5 day walk along the Dartmoor stretch of the Two Moor Way, and what being immersed in nature revealed to me about my resilience and wellbeing at this moment in my life.
It illustrated to me, as it might well do to you, the ongoing role nature (internal and external) plays in creating our experience, and expanding our awareness of life.
Not only did my experience validate the reason I offer nature-based coaching to people as a means to access a deep sense of wellbeing and wisdom, it has already improved the quality of my day to day life.
Nevertheless, if you prefer just to know the practicalities of the walk then skip to the end, but you could well miss plenty of hidden gems.

The Dartmoor Section of the Two Moor Way Walk

The Impetus

It was in the midst of a week being rinsed out, physically and emotionally by severe gastroenteritis and an unravelling of my sense of identity, that I realised that I could carve out time in the following week to walk the Dartmoor section of the Two Moors Way, a well established walking route that crosses through two national parks in Devon:Dartmoor and Exmoor.

My upcoming 50th birthday justified this time out as a rite of passage into the second act of my life. A time to contemplate, reflect and envision.

Planning, and the lack of it

Not much planning took place, other than checking out the route on google, confirming my husband was around to cover family logistics and clearing my work schedule (pretty straightforward as I work for myself).

I decided to make it as easy and comfortable as possible. The day before leaving I booked accommodation for night 2 and 3 but couldn't find any availability for the 1st night, it wasn't until half-way through the first day of walking that I booked that nights bed at a pub in Scoriton - phew!

I woke up at 0630 on the first day and with a certain amount of scatter-brain mess, packed a 20L day rucksack with knickers, leggings, thermal top, socks, two flasks for cold and hot drink, dog food, minimal washbag, a couple of bars of chocolate, a hard back notebook and the chunky book I was in midst of reading called Any Human Power by Manda Scott. My rain coat and dog lead tied to the back.

'I can't leave without phone charge plug and dog lead, and finding them will take the time it takes’. My back tightened with restraint from reacting to my daughter and husbands impatience. We said we would leave at 0850 it was now 0845 and we weren't in the car. Both did not want their school and work schedules to be disrupted by my last minute organised adventure.

I huffed and puffed. Found plug, agreed to purchase dog lead in town when collecting bread and in familiar mist spray of guilt, irritation and urgency drove off. Our minds all occupied on what lay ahead in our individual upcoming days.

Dropped by the sports centre in middle of Ivybridge with an unceremonious, loving hug, I walked through the town and up a steep road onto the moors.

Apprehension

Only as I sat on the top of the first Tor looking down over the town did I stop to appreciate what I was embarking on, a long distance walk that I had done no preparation for and uncertainty not only about what lay in store but also why I was actually doing it , other than a sense it would help me get unstuck and feel more empowered in my life.

In this apprehensive frame of mind, a text exchange with a group of friends, whose responses to my explanation for upcoming radio silence about birthday plans were supportive and encouraging such ‘how inspiring’, ‘free spirited’, ‘magic’, were received from a place of feeling vulnerable and unsure, and all I could hear was my critical voice ‘What was I doing? Who was I to take this time out? Making a meal of things, a fool of myself, a waste of space. Bemused by the subversive power of my insecure state of mind, I knew the rattled feeling that accompanied this thinking would dissipate in time.

Perspective

The next 8 miles or more of this 13 mile section was spent walking, singing and crying across expansive grassland that stretched as far as the eye could see. Met by bird song, occasional sheep and couple of people. I felt remote, wild and invigorated. Occasionally unsure of direction, unsure of myself, and conscious of need to get to pub before dark, but relishing the adventure and being able to go at my own pace. I side tracked from signed path to check out a secret and seedy reservoir, and chose the higher, softer grass covered track that was boggy at times.

Descending to the brink of the expansive grassland I gasped in awe at the valley that lay below. Reminiscent of childhood adventures, rough camping and walking in the Pyrenees and other mountain terrains in my birth family and with my children. A river gorged a route cascading down a valley with soft grass verges and rocky nooks and crannies to set up camp among.

Throughout the 3.5 day walk I traversed environmental, psychological and spiritual thresholds. The change in terrain a catalyst for memories, insights and wisdoms. The crossing of brows in the hill, gaining sight of landscape in front of me, a different perspective of the journey ahead mostly met me in delight and awe, with occasional despondency when I realised I had further to go than expected. But even then, a bit of a wobble was followed by the thrust of determination to continue and as the landscape and weather changed so did my mood, and the reflections and memories that came to mind.

Renewal from Burnout

On the morning of the second day I welcomed the familiarity of walking down from Holne through woodland to the River Dart valley, and freshening up in the waterfall spa above New Bridge. After a brief stop at Spitchwick common, we found our way through a crunchy bracken full field with no clear pathways. Clumsy underfoot we stumbled into a pack of white tuft tailed deer that leapt away and watched a bird of prey circle above us.

Sections of the hill were devastated by intentional regeneration fires . The black scorched plants and ground with green shoots emerging reminded me of the pain and renewal of mental burnout. A condition which contrary to how it is experienced at the time, is the mind/body health system kicking in to stop the harm overthinking causes and enforces a person to stop and start again, which mostly unbeknown to them at the time can offer opportunity for regeneration and transformation. I smile compassionately to myself as I acknowledge how unaware I was of this possibility when I burnt out from emergency responses work over 20 years ago.

Lost

Rediscovering the well signed path we strolled along, appreciating its gentle slop. Then following a stop in a clearing I ignored the map that clearly illustrated where the path went and instead chose to forge my own route which got me lost in thick gorse, struggling through thorns, either accidentally kicking Zen's head or encouraging him to go first with it. Neither of us were impressed. Just sore, frustrated, and humiliated.

As I got back on the path I reflected on how often in life I lost sight of the clearly defined path opening in front of me and got side tracked by a busy state of mind down thorny cul-de-sacs. This felt particularly pertinent to a work/life dilemma I was confused by at the moment and my realisation of the lunacy of how easily I get sidetracked, being so well reflected in the ridiculousness of me getting lost in gorse metres from a perfect path left me in fits of giggles and chuckles.

Losing track of time and space

By one o'clock I felt like I'd covered plenty of internal and external terrain , only to realise that I was far from half way and the far reaching view across valleys to a mountain range which I had to cross to reach my room for the night was an abrupt wake up call to stop phaffing about. On top of another expanse of exposed moorland I marvelled back at the distance I had come and steadied myself for the distance ahead. The last-minute search for accommodation had resulted in me taking a 6 mile (one way) detour off the route, which seemed a good idea on paper when I wasn't aware of the lay of the land and the soreness in my shoes.

Nevertheless catching sight of familiar outcrop of Bonehill in the distance, felt like seeing home and i knew I could stock up on food in Widecombe-in-the-Moor

Surprise Gifts & Hidden Gems

However, part of the joy of travelling alone is being able to do things at one's own pace and explore hidden gems. As I progressed, down into the next valley, to walk through an ancient woodland that stretched along an enchanting river, I was grateful for this awareness (to not get driven by life’s ‘shoulds’ and pressure to be somewhere in time). To my delight I discovered the perfect gift had been left for me at a gate. A covered map of the moor way path which up til then I had to refer to on my phone. I was relieved to put my phone away in the back pack and be more present in where I was.

A rusty sign on the side of a steep road drew my attention to one of the those aforementioned hidden gems, some ancient Hut Holes. I detoured off through a copse to come out into a clearing of the remains of medieval settlement that was surrounded by a range of majestic trees. Sat against what was likely to be a hut fire stone I lightheartedly communed with ancestors and imagined how it might have been to live there whilst sharing my cuppa and cake.

Fog and drizzle started to descend as I climbed the hill up from Widecombe to Bone Hill, nourished by a pitstop in a cafe where id eaten a hearty salad. Thermos filled with fresh coffee I swiftly walked to the rocks where I sat amongst friendly stones and recalled the many times I'd been here with family and friends since moving to Devon in 2006.

This place had held and accompanied me through desperate as well as joyful times. The seemingly small and mundane walks with moody, upset children and stroppy teens to more pivatol occasions, such as when, as a result of another last minute decision made fifteen years earlier, I spent the night up by this tor, in our camper van alone with my new born baby daughter and her two brothers, aged 3 and 5. I drove home feeling liberated from the shackles of post birth illnesses and depressing dependence, reacquainted with a sense of okness and resilience.

Staying Focused in Fog

From here I was not deterred by the thick fog that blinded me to any path. Instead I trod carefully forward attention focused on where I was going and how to get there guided by phone GPS and the gradient of the track beneath my feet. Loosing my bearings by getting distracted from the present moment wasn't an option if I wanted to stay safe.

Phone charge died as I entered the eerily beautiful and tranquil Haytor quarry, I breathed in its sanctuary before venturing out on the wide track that I felt certain led to the road which the hotel was on.

I congratulated myself on staying focused and present and not for the first time wondered how much easier my life would be if I achieved that each day.

Foggy Moods

The next morning the fog which I anticipated would pass overnight in time for Mox (my husband) to join me on the next stretch of the walk) seemed to be even denser.

It hung around for the majority of the day, impairing our vision and at times matching my mood. It took the 2.5 hour walk back up the hill from Widecombe and along the brow of the moor then down to the bronze age settlement of Grimspound, allegedly named after Grim, the god of war, for us to synchronise into each others company. My mental chatter got noisier as I considered how Mox might be feeling and second guessed or interpreted his expectations and responses alongside those of my own. I felt a bit gutted as I'd hoped metaphorically and experientially that the mist would lift so we could enjoy being together with visibility, and if not clear weather then at least variable.

Clarity in the Mist

The mist hardly lifted until the latter part of the afternoon and by then we had fallen out over the decision to climb a hill rather than continue along the road. I was exhausted, in a low mood (no food) and was unable to let go of our making the ‘wrong’ decision to take the harder steeper route. I dug into the bad feeling, stirred it up, wallowed in it, analysed and expressed it. Felt shitty, self-righteous, begrudging and far from present.

Yet even in the midst of this strop, clarity came to me that I just needed to speak more clearly about what I wanted, rather than resign myself to the hope that 'he would know' and being overwhelmed in the confusion that stems from a flood of overthinking the 'shoulds' and 'what might others need’.

Later when we laughed as we reflected on the pointless detour, Mox shared how he doesn't dwell in regret about decisions already made but gets present to the moment and what to do next. Lucky him I thought, and me too, if I’m willing to learn from humility.

Overall I felt really grateful to walk that third misty day with Mox as it could have been dismal and tough to bear it alone. Grateful to have a partnership where being together whatever the mental weather and life circumstance offers companionship, acceptance and creativity. And, far from being the most enjoyable, adventurous or relaxed day of the walk, I felt profoundly grateful for our love and companionship.

River Teign in grounds of Castle Drogo.jpg

We covered the final stretch of the Dartmoor section of the two moor way in the morning of the fourth day. We welcomed sunshine and cloud and enjoyed a gentle, blister sore stroll along the teign river then up steep paths to castle drogo. The grassy banks offered opportunity to walk barefoot and feel freedom from the restraint and rub of walking boots.

We relished the surprise treat of being driven back to the car by a taxi driver who generously shared his wealth of knowledge about the history of the moors through the different ages from proto-celtic times to Second World War and up to present day.

Integration & Next Steps

One week on from setting off on this epic walk, I am still smiling from the insights I had and the new perspectives I gained about my life’s path. I feel clearer about actions I now want to take. Writing this blog and sharing my experience with people, has helped me, reflect, and integrate some of this learning into my day to day life, as well as informing my next steps. I hope it inspires you too.

Further information about the nature immersions and coaching I offer and the importance of integrating experiences can be found here.

The most wonderful thing about nature is that its freely available to nourish your wellbeing anytime you pay it attention. Simply put, being out in nature and aware of our own nature helps regulate our body/mind, it reminds us we are part of a bigger whole, so we gain a broader perspective of our connection to the web of life and its universal intelligence. We get to engage with life in the present moment as it is happening in front of our eyes, (through the seasons, the creatures, the weather). Moreover, we can be reminded that everything is transient and nature lives us all.

One Moor Way - The Basics

All the information you need about walking the 2 Moor Way can be found at https://twomoorsway.org

Day 1 - Set off from Ivy Bridge at 1000, stayed overnight in Scoriton at the Tradesman Arms pub. Arrived there at 1700 (13 miles).

Day 2 - Set off 0900, walked the route until Widecombe-in-the-Moor (arrived there 1500) then did a further 4 miles off route to stay at the Haytor Hotel, arrived there at 1730 (14 miles).

Day 3 - Had lift back to Widecombe-in-the-Moor. Rejoined path at 1100 until Chagford, we arrived at 1600. Stayed in the 3 Crown Inn (10 miles)

Day 4 - Walked for 2 hours to Castle Drogo where we got taxi back to car at Widecombe-in-the-Moor (4 miles).

Dartmoor Taxis - 07496 968484

One Moor Way to Tune into Resilience & Wellbeing

The Magic of Insights