http://www.pbase.com/flying_fox_tony/my_walks
A FOUR season camp on Dartmoor.
As some of you are or maybe aware I walked quite a bit on Dartmoor over the years, there was a bit of a hiccup along the way with the sad death of my wife, Sue, but it is something that in recent months I have been getting back into.
It has been crossing my mind to sleep out on Dartmoor at some stage, next year 2012.
For newbie’s, please keep up ;-) I love Dartmoor, walking over her smooth curves, stepping through her swampy bogs and cresting her hillocks. You will soon realise that I am madder than a hatter with a sense of humour.
Above these words you will see a link to my pbase account where I have and will post photo’s and updates of my endeavours.
I thought if I do, or when I do!, camp out on Dartmoor why not do it for charity, or at least involve them in some way.
All that got me thinking, I post my pictures on pbase, write up short walk reports, I Tweet about my walks, why not set up a charity page and use it in my mentions and link it to my pbase account. I have set up a team page on JustGiving and that gives you the opportunity to donate to whichever animal charity you prefer.
I will be taking my dog, Bess. Though anything is possible, with my rules. Talking of which, I am going to keep it very simply. I have set no target as I feel that any amount will be of wonderful value to any of the charities listed. Ultimately, by mentioning them on pbase, Twitter and Facebook that awareness will be raised. I want to keep it simple and I don’t plan to get directly involved (you won’t find me walking the streets or setting anything up! Like get-togethers. It is me simply doing something that I want to do and help others benefit.
On the subject of camping my experience is somewhat limited and whilst some may do this on a regular basis, I haven’t. I have slept out in my parents back garden when I was a youngster, two nights of Bronze DofE (can’t say I enjoyed that, bloody horrible!) and a week with a friend on a farmers field, that was an experience and at least 20 years ago. They were all in controlled situations. The thought of camping gets me excited by day and evening, but in the morning it has all receded! It comes back every time though. It’s the thought of waking up on a cold miserable wet soggy blustery hill in the middle of nowhere! But I find it exciting at the same time, well writing this now I do. One thing you won’t catch me doing is camping on a camp site!
I have to get more gear as well, that is the part of the fun! There is plenty for me to think about and plan.
Oh, there was one other thing, to make it more “exciting” and worthwhile, as the title suggests, it won’t be just once, at least after getting all this stuff, it had better not be just once. To give it some challenge, it will be at least one camp out for a night per season. So four camp outs a year in all seasons. I have already considered this and winter is easily cheatable; it runs from late December to late March! It won’t necessarily be in one year, but hopefully, see my rules, and I can make them up as I go, it will potentially be spread over a few years, but hopefully four a year! Let’s just see. No pressure, just fun and enjoyment. I know stacks of people do this sort of thing all the time, but I am far from most people. And the dark scares the life out of me.
My day walks will be monthly on Dartmoor in any event and will in themselves help the animals with my updates and Tweets.
I have so far added six team members below, and I may very well probably potentially add more animal charities soon, to give you the donator plenty of choice.
As the judge, jury and executioner here I will ensure all the team members play fair and don’t try to out do each other, authorise disintegration, or bash each other over the head to get to the dosh.
So please dig deep and donate now or you may have a hungry lion chasing you or a mad elephant at your door. And next time you go swimming, don’t think those dolphins are being friendly, they are checking out the size of your wallets.
(Remember: Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never share them with anyone or send you unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. They'll make sure Gift Aid (an additional 28%) is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer, too. That means more money goes to the charity, faster, with JustGiving.)
These pages are live until at least mid 2016. Let’s see what we can raise.
