HA! Since this thread began I have been lost - again! And in a very similar way to the above.

CV, I recall you saying you liked reading Sherlock Holmes stories, is that right? Couple of days ago I went for a long walk on Dartmoor in a spot called Fox Tor Mires, which it is claimed was the direct inspiration for the (fictional) Grimpen Mires in The Hound of the Baskervilles. I miscalculated how long the walk I intended would take and it got dark while I was still way out in the landscape. No GPS, no map, no compass, no flashlight. I can navigate by the stars perfectly well and it was a clear night. Problem is those marshes. You don't really get sucked under, but you can get badly stuck. Don't take a wrong step. Too cold to think of stopping for the night, so...

A couple of hours got me out of there, back on the road and another hour walk to where I left the car. No real difficulty - but it was fun! Here's someone else's photo of what that bit of landscape looks like in the daylight:


In my country that passes for deepest wilderness...

A good local story about those mires. A fella was walking along when he saw a nice quality hat sitting on the surface of a marsh. Very carefully he edged himself forward till he could reach and grab it - at which point he was astounded to find a head underneath. A gentleman submerged from the neck down smiled up and introduced himself in a well-spoken city accent. The moorman started trying to pull him out but couldn't shift him. The gent smiled again and said if he'd wait a moment he'd try and get his feet out of the stirrups of the horse he was sitting on...

Ho ho.

Cheers - C

It don't take long to loose that time does it? Yea where I was in the mountains the one time the canopy above was such stars where hard to see until you hit a clearing. And the noises you hear just make your mind wonder. In this area the wildlife you had to worry about are Cats and Bears. Weather was warm so no problem there.

One time my Brother in law and I where fishing in this little farm pondi near the town of Belington W. Virgina and it started to get dark so we went on making our way back to his truck and we knew we crossed this one pasture so as getting darker we come to a barb fence and climbed over, start walking across to a farm road in the distants and we knew it was a different pasture then the one used to get to the pond but figured its close to the truck anyway. Well mid way across I hear this bell clanging and getting loud and turn and here we are in the middle with a Bull charging us . No way we are going to out run this thing so Joe yells freeze don't move and we stopped and that thing run up and stopped just looking at us like to say ok run guys. After what seem like forever it started to walk around and seem not interested and suddenly Joe yells run like HELL!!!! well we both made it to the fence and over but it was close. I think if it had homed in on one of us it could have been different.

The Hound of the Baskervilles is my favorite Holmes! I'm jeolous of you Ceri for being able to experience from what I've created in my imagination. That picture doesn't do justice of how I thought it looked in my head. Did you run into anything ghoulish while there?

Haha - well there really is an ancient superstition in that part of the world regarding The Hairy Hand of Dartmoor. I kid you not! If you are riding a horse, driving a car or whatever on a dark night the Hairy Hand appears and takes hold of the controls and steers you into a mire. Maybe you'll survive and maybe you won't.

I have spent a lot of time through my life on those moors, by day, night, sunshine, fog, snow, rain - in company and alone... And I ain't seen no Hairy Hand yet. Dang!

I'm still waiting hopefully though...

- C

Ceri, stick to the road and clear of the moors

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlK3TDazmfw