April 13-15 2007, TTN 07

A CHALLENGING AND CONSTRUCTIVE WEEKEND WAS HAD BY ALL.

Yet again Dartmoor decided to show us its many faces, from the heat of the Saturday to the rain and the mist /fog of the Sunday (yes parents it was raining and foggy on Sunday)

What important lessons have we learnt this weekend?

• Fluids: when its hot fill up as often as possible ,when you get to a water source; drink the remaining contents and fill up again. A minimum 5 litres should have been drunk on Saturday, and it can be a lot hotter than that on the event.
• Sun hat/sun tan lotion: I know this says optional on kit list but on the forecast for last weekend, this should have been packed .The majority were caught out with no hat. For the event this will be compulsory
• Navigation: there should always be at least 2 people navigating at all times, even the 55 milers went of course on the way to Kitty when the fog descended. If you do go off course in bad visibility head on a general bearing to the nearest obvious feature e.g., river, railway track, so that you can get back on track. 

An interesting weekend was had by all, with some excellent team work and team camadre. Everybody was looking out for each other, good to see. That’s what Ten Tors is all about – it's a team event.

Best comment from the weekend? The group that kept telling us they were taking shortcuts even it meant going out of bounds and walking though boggy ground and therefore taking twice as long!

Brian and Paul had a potentially awkward situation when waiting on Lynch Tor. They found unexploded ordnance, their concerns were confirmed when an ex army man they were talking to decided to get as far as away as possible, leaving them still stood looking at it! At which point they thought they had better move. So yes we do joke about odd bits of shell and the like but they do appear from time to time so leave any metal object well alone.

So overall a successful weekend with lots of guts and determination shown by all. We believe you are all now ready and prepared so one more day hike to go and then the real thing.

Between now and the event have a look at what you are carrying , if you haven’t used it yet in training you do not need it (unless compulsory items) . The weight of some bags is still too heavy.

I would like to thank all the adults who spent many hours on checkpoints, or sat in vans waiting for groups in all the changing weather of the weekend. In fact walking is always more interesting - just ask any walker who has had the misfortune to drop out, it can be very tedious.   

Stuart   

Team allocation will be notified by post – not email, hopefully by the end of this week.

Lost Property:

Marcuss Stores bag containing jeans, underwear, socks and black "Reef" tee shirt

Pair large black gaiters Outdoor designs XCR

Black "Cushtie" pillow

Blue XSNY plastic water bottle

Red plastic water bottle with white cap