The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

Tragedy on Marmolada

Returning to northern Italy yesterday from Oslo, Norway, I was barraged with images and commentary from the Italian Dolomites, perhaps my favorite mountains in the world. After little winter snow and extreme heat the prior month, a serac on the Marmolda glacier had collapsed. Marmolada is the highest peak in the Dolommites and features a very popular Via Ferrata to Punta Penia, its summit. Seracs are stabilized by persistently cold weather, so the severe global heating in the Alps in recent decades has not only melted 80% of the Marmolada glacier’s volume, it has causes this beautiful landscape to be an increasing source of danger to alpinists. I had climbed the Via Ferrata Marmolada in 2018 with a guided group (see my post from September of that year). Below are some photos taken both by me and another client, Ron, who was our unofficial photographer, highlighting the Marmolada glacier.

Marmolada (3,443 m, 10,968 ft), the highest peak in the Dolomites, taken from Via Ferrata Trincee three days prior to our ascent. Our route was around to the right (North) here.

Our group photo at the start of the Marmolada Classico. Walter, our guide, is on the left and I am in the yellow t-shirt. The glacier is behind us here.
Ascending an ice field on Marmolada. Note the complete lack of snow this low on the mountain late in the season. Here I am leading the ascent.
Ascending a snow field on Marmolada, leading to the West Ridge.
Crossing the Marmolada glacier just below a crevice. Intersections of crevasses can create seracs.
Descending the Marmolada glacier snow field. Note the crevasse. ahead of us

My thoughts are with those killed, injured, or still missing on Marmolada.

This week I will be working on a blog from another amazing mountain range I trekked across last week, the Jotunheimen in Norway. Stay safe outdoors.

The Vagabond Hiker

Inland walks in Devon

Apart from the five days hiking along the South West Coast Path from my most recent blog post, I spent the last four weeks walking some of the many inland paths, including some of the more popular walks in Exmoor and Dartmoor National Parks, as well as some local walks that required less driving time. From these dozen or so walks, I have distilled the following photos that I hope will give a flavor of the variety of Devon’s landscapes and nature.

Local Walks

In contrast to a 45 minutes to an hour plus drive necessary from my AirBnb in the mid-Devon village of Cheriton Fitzpaine for the closer of the national park walks, the local walks ranged from one right outside my door to about a 30 minute drive to reach the Exe River in the lovely city of Exeter.

A country lane on a Coombland Circular walk, about 20 minutes from my home
Surprisingly, bluebells were still in bloom at the end of May in Coombland
A typical Devon countryside vista seen on a circular walk from my house in Cheriton Fitzpaine
A field of barley near Cheriton Fitzpaine
View of the River Exe at the Quay in the city of Exeter. A 6 mile loop walk along the river was a great way to experience this lovely cathedral city.
The River Exe from Belle Isle Park in Exeter. This one park prohibits cycling and dogs, and as such is a peaceful oasis.
Countess Wear paper mill building along the river just south of Exeter. Some structures here date from the 17th century.
Gentrified apartments along the river in Exeter

Exmoor National Park

From my mid-Devon AirBnb in Cheriton Fitzpaine, I was about equidistant from the two national parks, the more wooded Exmoor and the higher, more rugged-feeling Dartmoor.

Exmoor, formerly a royal forest and hunting ground, is an area of wooded vales and hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon counties, named for the River Exe, whose source is in near its center. It was designated a national park in 1954.

Vista with a herd of about 40 Roe Deer, seen on a circular hike around Dunkery Beacon, the high point in Exmoor. This hike was technically in Somerset, not Devon.
Exmoor Ponies near Dunkery Beacon
Tarr Steps and Tarr Farm near the start of a circular walk to the village of Withypool. At 54 meters in length, the late medieval Tarr Steps is by far the longest clapper bridge in England.
The River Barle between Tarr Farm and Withypool. The long distance Two Moors Path follows the river here, connecting the south and north Devon coasts.
St Andrews church in the village of Withypool
A Withypool Cafe scone with jam and cold cream. A great snack break! And no, I didn’t consume all that cream.

Dartmoor National Park

Covering about 370 square miles, Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon that has been protected by National Park status since 1951. The landscape consists of moorland capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors. While it provides innumerable hiking opportunities, but because of its size I focused my efforts on the eastern and northern portions that were closer to my home.

View towards Yes Tor and High Willhays from near the trailhead at the (disused) Meldon Quarries
High Willhays summit cairn vista. At 621 meters (2,039 feet), it is the highest point in the park, indeed in all of southern England. This and the following photo were taken with my Panasonic Lumix. All others were taken using my Samsung A52 phone.
Vista with clouds on the descent from High Willhays. Far more dramatic than a blue sky!
Teign Gorge through which its namesake river flows. I did a 9 mile loop walk with Maggie through the gorge and on the hillsides above.
Dartmoor ponies grazing, hopefully not on the foxglove!
Teign River reflection in Teign Gorge
Fingle Bridge from the nearby cafe where we re-hydrated with a well earned soda water and lime
A house in the village of Scorriton at the start of a 9 mile circular walk I did last week up onto Holne Moor
PUDC boundary standing stone on Ryder’s Hill. The Paignton and Urban District stones, placed about every 200 meters, mark the catchment boundary of the nearby Venford Reservoir. (No, I did not know that at the time).
Cottongrass on Holne moor. My walk encompassed three separate hills, the highest of which was Ryder’s Hill.
Wild Dartmoor ponies near Ryder’s Hill summit.
Haytor (r) and Haytor rocks (l) from the Haytor car park. This short (5 mile) circular walk featured some very interesting scrambling opportunities and seemed much longer than the actual mileage.
View from Haytor towards the west. Maggie can be seen on the lower left.
The Vagabond Hiker standing on a rock slab at Houndtor. (Photo courtesy of Maggie).
Maggie at a Dartmoor stream near Houndtor. The riparian landscape provided a stark contrast to the nearby uplands.

When this blog posts, I will be in the midst of trekking in Norway, in the highest and one of the most rugged mountain ranges that country boasts: The Jotunheimen. Those eight days will be the subject of my next blog. Until then, enjoy the great outdoors wherever you happen to be.

The Vagabond Hiker

The Southwest Coast Path: South Devon

Back in Devon after four years! The last (and only) time I was in Devon I completed 9 days of hiking along the Southwest Coastal Path (SWCP) from Westward Ho! in Devon to Padstow in Cornwall (see my 2018 blog post). In contrast to those 2+ days in Devon, this time I am spenting 4 weeks, with a two-fold hiking focus: completing some of the southern portion of the SWCP and exploring inland Devon, principally the two moors: Dartmoor and Exmoor. To keep the length of the posts reasonable, I have divided the hikes into two posts. The five days of coastal hiking inn-to-inn is the focus of this post; the inland walks will be the focus of the next one, hopefully published in a few days.

From my AirBnb the South Devon coast was easily accessed by train from the lovely city of Exeter. In about an hour I reached the touristy town of Paignton where I started my generally West-to-East walking adventure. That was Jubilee Sunday and my post begins there. . .

Redcliffe Hotel on the east end of Paignton, Day 1. Paignton was certainly a convenient start point, but is best forgotten.
Corbyn’s Head. I’ve always wondered where that was . . .
Thatcher Rock. The antithesis of Corbyn’s Head. The misty rain lasted much of the first day until. . .
Early evening view from my Babbacombe Hotel terrace
Day 2 started out with much better weather. Here is a view of Oddicombe Beach, a steep descent from the cliff-top town of Babbacombe.
View back towards Torquay (hidden), the main conurbation along this portion of the coast, that I had traversed (in rain) on Day 1 without taking a photo. Though it has its own odd charm, like Paignton I felt that it is best forgotten.
View towards Teignmouth, the destination of the first of two short ferries I took that day
View of colorful Dawlish with the railway going along the coast here.
On the Starcross to Exmouth ferry, the 2nd and longer (at about 20 minutes) of the two ferries that day
The Imperial Hotel, Exmouth, my home for the 2nd night. Though imposing, it is indeed every bit as tired as it looks. Note the giant beach chair. My hotel room did have a small balcony looking out towards the beach.
An Exmouth beach sculpture I saw at the start of Day 3. Unfortunately I was out of coins or I would have contributed to the artist’s fund. The town does have a large sandy beach, unusual for the south coast. It is popular with kite boarders and surfers as well as swimmers (and of course, dog walkers).
The Geoneedle at Orcombe Point. This marks the start of the Jurassic Coast. Note the different rocks comprising one side of the obelisk. They represent the almost continuous sequence of rocks exposed from the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous Periods as one heads West to East along the coast. Truly time travel on a geologic scale!
Dew on common flax (Linum usitatissimum)
Purple Heather (Erica cinerea). As with much of southern England, gorse is out-competing heather.
Otter River estuary, a great birding area. I did not have my binoculars and the rain forced me to shelter in a bird hide for a while as I made my way on an unavoidable inland detour around the mouth of the river.
Sidmouth with mist descending. My home for the 3rd night!
A view from Connaught Gardens on the Western end of Sidmouth. The gardens are absolutely gorgeous, but after a long day my appreciation for their beauty was limited.
The Grade II listed Beacon House with a traditional thatched roof, Sidmouth
Looking back on Sidmouth and High Peak (R) at the start of Day 4. It is a lovely town although the beach is only shingle.
Cliffs near Salcombe as the sun emerges after several hours of mist and rain. This is England, after all.
I ended up herding a flock of sheep near Branscombe
Looking back on the gorgeous coastal views near Branscombe
A good view of the Hooken Cliffs (r) and limestone pinnacles (l), highlighting a giant landslip from 1790. This area is part of the 100 sq. mi. East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. This short ramble through the Hooken Undercliff was a preview for much of the following day’s walking.
The Beer Beach on the morning of Day 5. I stayed in a small B&B in Beer, a beautiful historic village. Somewhat lacking in dining options, I had pre-booked a dinner reservation at The Smugglers Kitchen, an absolutely first rate establishment.
The SWCP heading up the cliffs leaving the village of Beer
Axmouth Harbor and Haven Cliffs
Pyramidal orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis). I should have gotten a better photo, but didn’t realize at the time I was looking at an orchid! Though this species is relatively common, I didn’t see any more.
The SWCP heading through the Axmouth to Lyme Regis Undercliffs National Nature Reserve, one of the great “wilderness” areas in southern England. With rain threatening all morning, it was nice to be walking through a woodland.
A rare coastal view en-route to Lyme Regis in the Undercliffs Nature Reserve
Red Campion (Silene dioica). I saw many of these pretty wildflowers during my five days of coastal walking.

Lyme Regis is purportedly lovely, but when I hiked through at the conclusion of my fifth day walking, I was in a hurry to catch my bus, the weather was questionable, and the tourists profuse. Perhaps for these reasons I have no photos of the town. I did manage to catch the hourly bus from there to Axminster station where I was able to connect with a train back to Exeter where my car waited for me. Stats were 56 miles and 9600 ft elevation gain over the five days. Certainly not as strenuous as some of the North Coast of Devon and Cornwall where I averaged about 3000 ft of ascent each day, but an amazingly varied geography with wonderful towns and villages conveniently located along the way. I am more than ever resolved to continue to “fill in” the sections of the SWCP that I have not yet walked.

The Vagabond Hiker

P.S. A note on the photos. I recently purchased a new mobile phone, a Samsung Galaxy A52, which I used for all these photographs. My travels make it more than ever necessary to have dual SIM capability which this international version possesses. I am still learning about the camera, though. . .

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