A couple of weekends ago I went to the North York Moors. I was travelling to Billingham to pick up some carpet for my van and so it seemed a good idea to see the moors.

The North York Moors are the largest moorland area in England and Wales; interestingly the UK has ~70% of the world’s heather moorland. The park is also famous for its geology.

I parked up at the Lonsdale car park near the Captain Cook memorial. It had picnic benches with dedicated BBQ places so I thought it would be a good place to cook dinner. However as the sun set increasing numbers of midges emerged from the nearby trees. I was forced to retreat a little further away.

I had originally thought of biviing in the trees but the midges were too infuriating to contemplate this; I decided to camp up on the moor. It turned out to be a good decision as there were none higher up even though there was no wind.

I slept in my bivi bag under a tarp held up by two walking poles. I had four tent pegs and some cord to rig the tarp. I do not normally use poles whilst walking but I recently bought a pair for the upcoming trip to Norway and was testing them out. I think they will help with balance whilst carrying a heavy pack.

I rose very early at 4:30 partially as it was light but also as a wild camper should set-up at dusk and pack up at dawn to avoid disturbing others and leave no trace. I also thought if I started now I would have time to have breakfast, repack and finish my walk by 12:00.

I walked back to my van to eat breakfast and dropped my camping stuff off. I then walked up the path through the forest to the Captain Cook memorial monument. The light was clear and the views excellent. After a few photos I walked back down past the van and back up onto the moor continuing on to Roseberry Topping.

Roseberry Topping is an iconic hill with a reputation as a busy place but when I arrived (8:15 am) there was only a solitary photographer there. After stopping for a few photos I followed the path east along the edge of the moor to Highcliff Nab, then South past the Sleddale farm and back to the carpark at about 11:30.

The walk was 16 km, 515 m height gain and took 4:54′.

After the walk I drove to my friends Stu’s parent’s house to collect the carpet. They kindly gave me some tea and lunch before I headed back to Nottingham.

For more information on camping in National Parks and the North York Moors visit: http://www.nationalparks.gov.uk/visiting/camping and http://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/visiting.

Also take care as there is a high fire risk on the moor.