From Exmoor to Patagonia - a Life Journey

© Tim Moss

Seasoned adventurer Tim Moss recalls how he got into it all in the first place...

I walked out of my front door for the first time, age 14, with 75-litres' worth of kit on my back and made a bee line for Exmoor carrying a change of jeans, a clutch of Pot Noodle and four spare litres of water "just in case". We planned to walk the width of the National Park but ended up covering less than a quarter. Our mileage as a group was low but the distance I travelled as an individual was significant.

Crossing the Wahiba Sands, Oman  © Tim Moss
Crossing the Wahiba Sands, Oman
© Tim Moss
 

I walked on to the highlands, up Ben Nevis for the first time and along the West Highland Way, fighting my way against moor and midges. I remember being shocked that I didn't need to pack my tent for the grand ascent of The Ben because Britain's highest mountain could easily be scaled in a day.

"It has been long journey from the teenager lugging an oversized pack across Exmoor to the adult lugging an oversized pack across Patagonia but I have enjoyed every step of the way, even if I didn't realise it at the time"

Winter arrived and to Dartmoor I went - 'Will you be warm enough?' my Mum prudently asked, 'Yes!' I petulantly replied though, of course, a more accurate answer would have been 'No!' The incompetence of youth saw us inadvertently camp in someone's woodland driveway as darkness fell at 5pm and were subsequently, and unsurprisingly, turfed out with some indignation by the owner on his return from work. The only time I've ever been ask to move on. By moonlight we carried our hastily struck tents in our hands, re-pitched them in a nearby field and hunkered down for a night of misery. But shivering through the night prepared me in its own way for the next step...

Into a crevasse.

Worst tent pitch in Kyrgyzstan?  © Tim Moss
Worst tent pitch in Kyrgyzstan?
© Tim Moss

I extricated myself from the chasm of an alpine training trip, one of several in the French Alps, where things didn't always go to plan but my teeth were reliably cut sharper with each mishap.

 "I set my compass east across the unrelenting dunes of the desert, climbing and falling with the regularity of breaking waves"

My steps led me next to Kyrgyzstan, up the Inylchek valley, hauling ropes, axes and crampons, as well as food, in the dry heat of the day, waist deep through glacial melt and crevasse hopping over the moraine until we reached a camp and a helicopter rendezvous and attempted to plant the British flag atop some newly claimed peaks.

I pressed onwards to the Sultanate of Oman where the ground beneath my feet turned from snow to sand and I set my compass east across the unrelenting dunes of the desert, climbing and falling with the regularity of breaking waves until sand gave way to gravel and gravel gave way to tarmac and I knew that I had crossed the Wahiba Sands on foot carrying all of my own supplies.

Heading towards Fitzroy, Patagonia  © Tim Moss
Heading towards Fitzroy, Patagonia
© Tim Moss
 
Above the El Chalten valley, Patagonia  © Tim Moss
Above the El Chalten valley, Patagonia
© Tim Moss

The road led me next to Patagonia and my feet picked up again where the hitching ended at the Pacific coast, and I marched to the beat of a deadline in the heat and dust and wind, ceaseless in its efforts to remove any sense of tranquility that my surroundings might otherwise have inspired at the time and only now manage to do with the benefit of hindsight. I never quite reached the Atlantic coast as had been the plan but I slogged along many torturous miles of road and through several less torturous miles of National Park.

It has been long journey from the teenager lugging an oversized pack across Exmoor to the adult twice his age lugging an oversized pack across Patagonia but I have enjoyed every step of the way, even if I didn't realise it at the time.

I am looking forward to where that next step takes me.

 

Damp in the Altai  © Tim Moss
Damp in the Altai
© Tim Moss

About the Author

Tim Moss runs The Next Challenge, a website aimed at encouraging people to live more adventurously and offering free advice to those considering a first step.

His expeditions include climbing new mountains in Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Bolivia, crossing the tiny Wahiba Sands desert on foot and walking across Patagonia. Contrary to the impression perhaps given above, he's keen to point out that all were done with other people.

Tim has recently published a guide book for seven of the world's greatest adventures: How to Get to the North Pole and Other Iconic Adventures.

 


 

 



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