After waiting all summer for that 'just right' forecast, we took the plunge and headed down to Dartmoor National Park on a weekend forecasted for cloud, sunshine, and rain. It wasn't exactly what we wanted when we made the now or never decision. David had driven down to Wigan from the Lake District and met me after work on Friday evening at a designated meeting place before heading home to eat, finalise the routes, and catch as much sleep as we could. We left Wigan at 5am and made the long 280-mile drive to Dartmoor, and despite the heavy rain that was forecast for Saturday morning, we arrived at Sourton Down Caravan & Camping Park, Devon, around 10:30am. Having rang ahead, we didn't have to wait until 14:00pm to check in, and after being given our pitch, we immediately began to put the tent up. It's been years since I last camped on a camp site. For David, the last time he'd camped on a site was back when he was a child with his parents.

Sourton Down is predominently a caravan park, with around a dozen pitches for tents; the rest were reserved for caravans and motorhomes. The owner was very welcoming on our arrival, giving us a virtual tour of the park, including the Pump & Pedal bike shop, which doubled as a cafe less than a minute's walk from the park entrance. David had bought a ground sheet for the four-man tent which we pegged down first followed by speading the tent over the ground sheet and blowing up the three ribs (no tent poles) before the final peg-in. The forecast for this afternoon was a mix of high-level clouds, spells of sunshine, and windy weather across the moors. At the moment we were basking under hot summer sunshine; we couldn't believe our luck. With the tent secured, we grabbed our packs for the first of what we thought would be three walks across the Bank Holiday weekend and strode out onto the Granite Cycle Way located at the rear of the park, which will lead us onto Prewley Moor and Sourton Tors thereafter.

We left Shelstone Tor in the sunshine, but within minutes it had clouded over, and with it came a drop in temperature accompanied by light rain. We had chosen a direct ascent on Corn Ridge, ascending through thick peaty mud and wild grasses; needless to say, if any ascent would pick out how tired we were it had to be the first we encountered.

We had shared the five-hour drive down, but like kids, we were eager to put the tent up and get on the moor as quickly as we possible, yet it was the first real ascent of the day, which reminded us how much we'd already done. The good news was that the sun was back out! Moving on, you can definitely see why this tor was named after a loaf!

This is 'Widgery's Cross' or the 'Jubilee Cross' which has stood looking over the western expanse of moor. The cross was erected by William Widgery to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887.

We plotted a route across the moorland to reach Little Links Tor which lies around a quater of a mile north west of Great Links Tor which would have been over rough ground before David suggested returning to Great Links via the path we had just descended by then head pathless towards Little Links Tor.

The early start and the long drive had started to take its toll and we let the wind take over the conversation as we made our way back towards Sourton Tors where we would collect our final tor of the walk, East Tor. The sunshine returned reigniting conversation while we watched the cloud dance across the moorland, leaving burst of light just seconds long. It was still windy, but nowhere near as strong as it had been on Great Links Tor, and with it came warmth. Shouldering Sourton Tors, we spotted a wild-camper setting up for the evening, and I couldn't help but feel jealous of the sunset he'd see in a few hours. Not so much how much the wind which would affect his sleep though. With East Tor twenty yards in sight, we moved forward but were blocked by a cow and its calf lying down in the sunshine. A few steps forward, and mum gave us that 'Don't you dare come closer, look.' We walked away and collected East Tor anyway.