Well, certainly not as we have lived it for the last 4 weeks!
This series first saw the light of day at the end of September when Remote 01 was published, followed by another 5 in the series at the beginning of October. But it wasn’t until November 10th when most of the other caches were published that we realised the enormity and complexity of it all. Suddenly this was a real challenge!
To complete this series I had expected to walk a long way and it worked out at just over 130 miles on 29 different walks. But what has really surprised me is that I have driven just under 600 miles to get to and from the start of the walks – an adventure of epic proportions indeed.
Although some of the caches have not been particularly remote, for the most part they have been placed in the most remote parts of Dartmoor, with difficult access across typical Dartmoor grass tussocks, not to mention the bogs! Fortunately we have had the most benign November weather for many years, which has made the moor drier and the series easier than probably intended. Had it been last year we would be struggling to be halfway.
This series has been well planned and has included the excellent concept of needing to find travel bugs to learn the location of caches – they do say “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!” In addition caches contain two different sorts of bonus information, both needed for the latter stages of the series. Throughout the series the quality of the caches has been impressive; with only one exception the coordinates have been spot on and there has been a range of difficulties, but most hides have been fairly easy, a relief after you have walked 3 miles to get there!
All in all this has been a series of the highest quality and I would like to express my sincere thanks to Steve (Plymbridge Runner) for the time and energy which he has put into creating this compelling series and for leading me back to most of the more remote parts of the moor – sometimes more than once!
So, is there life after “Remote” – yes, but somehow there wasn’t the same urgency to get out of bed this morning!
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