Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt - Dartmoor Finds

Another month has passed and we're now three-quarters of the way through the Winter Photography Scavenger Hunt run by Eileen at A Bracelet of Days. I had found and shared nine of her list of 20 items when we last checked in, and today I'm sharing my finds from a trip to Dartmoor over New Year.

We spent three days there and walked in three areas of the moor. First up was an out and back along the Teign Valley where I immediately found some Holly (no. 10 on the list) beside the path.

We started out high above the river, and passed Sharp Tor, the first Natural Feature (no. 18) of this post

before descending to the River Teign which we crossed via the Crossing Place (no. 14) known as Fingle Bridge.

We followed the river (another Natural Feature)

back in the opposite direction, passing below Sharp Tor this time

en route to another Crossing Place

before climbing back uphill to the car park.

Next day we did a circular walk from Belstone. Part of the moor is used as an army firing range, marked out by poles, and flags are flown when it's in use. It's an old-fashioned but very effective Method of Communication (no. 20). 

There were no flags on this occasion, but we knew that already as we'd used the newfangled method of looking up the firing times online.

We followed the Belstone Ridge along past a series of tors (more Natural Features)

while I kept my open for Dartmoor ponies who roam wild on the moor, hoping to tick off 'Horse' from the list (no. 7). The first few we saw were wreathed in mist, but we found these on the path later in the day:

Returning to Belstone, we passed the old Telegraph Office with Phone Box and Post Box outside, for another trio of communication methods.

Next day was another circular walk, this time from Meldon Reservoir (a man-made feature)

out to the Natural Feature (no.18 again) of Black Tor

where we paused for a group photo. Would it be bad to double up here, as this walk was a Group Activity (no. 5) where we were Dressed for the Season (no. 11)?

We dropped down to Blackator Copse, an important ancient woodland,

and then followed the West Okemont River (how many Natural Features can I cram into one post?) back towards the reservoir.

At this point I was thinking about just how many duplicates I had found for the Hunt so I looked at the list again and started to look out for a few new items. It's amazing what you can find when you remember to check that list and I soon collected a Nail (no. 4)

a Fastener (no. 3)

and an Instruction (no. 13).

I moved from nine finds at the beginning of the weekend to fourteen by the end as so many of these were repeats in the same categories as photos I've already shared. So ... six more to find, plus two substitutes (which I have in hand). None of the six should be impossibly hard, it's more a case of remembering to look out for them and then to take the pictures.

Four weeks left now, as the Hunt runs until the end of March. You can find the full list over at A Bracelet of Days if you'd like to join in.