Bath: Day 22

Welcome to Dartmoor! Home to a rather large prison that held American and French soldiers at one point and many breakouts (including Seldon, the criminal in Hound of the Baskervilles), the setting for Doyle's book, a few humans, and over 1,000 ponies. Those figures are pretty accurate ha-ha!

The first picture is an example of some of the semi-wild ponies found on the moor. The baby was so cute! Picture 2 is just to show you a little of what the Grimpen Mire looks like (it is the treacherous setting in the novel where many a person and animal has died in the sinking peat). Three is a photo of a Saxon cross that monks used to mark their paths to the different churches. Next is just a photo of Amanda and I on some of the natural rocks that came up from the Earth. The next three photos are just to give you more of an idea of what the moor looks like- not quite what I expected. No spectral dogs, fog, or creepy noises. We did find a rave going on in a small farmhouse in the middle of nowhere on the moor though. Kind of ruined the Sherlock Holmes mood we were in. And the last picture is th Sherlock Holmes class, Dr. Brown, and Sherlock Holmes himself.

We actually did a large chunk of hiking yet again today. Got lots more color on me as well and escaped all icky plants! But there were some huuuuge bees (Dad, you would not have enjoyed that bit very much) and weird big bugs I've never seen before. But not much is really out on the moor. There was plenty more vegetation than I thought and there are the occasional ruins of things, crosses left over, and some of the huts still from Saxon tribes I believe. We went out on Fox Tor (which is what the Grimpen Mire is now called) and the Black Tor. Those pathways get extremely narrow and navigating that while also trying to avoid the nice little (or not so little) presents the sheep, cattle, and wild ponies left us was a tad bit tricky. Also, there was extreme changes in the grade of the land so you really had to be careful. Not to mention the gobs of stones and masses of hard grasses that could easily trip you up.

It was really a neat hike though because our guide basically walked us through the story of the Hound of the Baskervilles since it was set there. Interesting fact: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle definitely let his imagination run wild with the story. The "mansion" that the main character lives in is nothing more than a farm house. But it was cool to think we were sort of walking in the literary footsteps of Holmes and Watson. We saw where the "hound" was kept, the reminents of the mines, the house where the Baskervilles lived in, Seldon's house, where Franklin had his observing telescope, etc. Our guide even told us folk lore about "Vixanna," who is kind of like a Siren figure. It's said that she lures men away (with her dancing and appearance) from their groups on the moor, promising to take them on a short-cut out of the fog and into safety. She then leads the men straight into the bogs where they are trapped, drowns them, and then devours them. Lovely, right? Good thing I'm not a guy!

After about three hours of moor exploration we headed to Widecomb on the Moor, another small town, to eat our sack lunches, enjoy the gorgeous weather, grab tea or ice cream or whatever and kind of veg out before we headed back. Got back around 6 pm and was exhausted from all the sun, fresh air, and walking. It was invigorating to say the least. Now just working on my creative chapter for The Hound of the Baskervilles!