I noticed this when I was walking the coastal path last year as well. Then, I didn’t have the whole route programmed into my watch, so at the end of each day I’d add the miles walked that day onto a running total of miles walked throughout the trip. I’d then minus that total from the miles advertised for the entire south west coastal path and that would give me the miles remaining.

The thing is, that doesn’t work and, although I previously only suspected the inaccuracy, I now have it confirmed. It should work if all things were precise and measured the same, but it doesn’t.

I think my watch is accurately measuring exactly how far I’ve walked each day but the thing is I’m not very accurate. I often go the wrong way, or walk to a shop, or some other slight deviation from the trail. I never count miles that are not on the path, for example walking extra distance to a campsite or walking to a train station, but I think all these times I’ve done something a tiny bit different, however small, have added up to quite a big error.

At first it was bothering me because I didn’t want the miles remaining counter to be inaccurate, but now I don’t mind. The figure I now use for the miles remaining is based on the official route from my current location. So that is as correct as it can be. And the miles walked is based on the tracking from my watch. I have now accepted that the miles walked, when I reach the final, will be more than the official total mileage of the path. The mathematician in me isn’t delighted by that, but it’s ok as it’s what I’ve done, and that’s what I’m trying to capture with as much honesty and accuracy as possible.

Revisiting old fears

I really thought I was over the slightly traumatic experience I had last year when I got caught out camping in high winds on top of a cliff. Time and a more robust tent I thought had banished that bad experience from my mind.

In was quite a calm night when I set up my tent last night at Sally’s bottom and I even, momentarily, considered not putting all the guy lines in. Luckily now I always put them all in and continued to do so. I figured the weather was calm and would stay that way. Which is really stupid because that’s how I got caught out before.

I’m not sure what time the high winds and rain came through but it woke me up, and even though I don’t think I was scared, I was very wary and couldn’t get back to sleep. My pitch wasn’t one you’d really want to abandon as it was quite near some unstable cliffs and walking around in the dark wouldn’t be a very good idea. And bailing out really wasn’t something I was considering doing but I think it was all just in my mind, with the bad weather, and was keeping me up. The tent was actually fine – easily up to the task, and normally that sort of weather helps me sleep as I love feeling cosy while the world outside is playing havoc, but I think because of my location I was on edge and couldn’t relax.

So another bad nights sleep but I’m glad I did it. I think I needed to go through that again and have a positive outcome. I’m hoping this will have banished some negative feelings for good and I’ll be brave to pitch in higher winds again. And it did work out perfectly. As a bonus, by the morning the rain had stopped and the skies were clearing up ready for another great day.

Walking away from my camping spot this morning was quite interesting though. I had no idea how much of a drop the was just next to the area I had camped. I was nowhere near the edge but it still made me pause for thought. It would have been foolish to walk around up there in the dark.

Small is better

I left camp at around 7am. There was no need to rush as I’d been in such an isolated spot it’d be quite a while before anyone would walk by – which is ideal for a wild camp. The first place I came to was Porthtowan Beach. It was by now 9am but, despite saying they would be open, the toilets were shut. Which was a shame. There was a notice on each door saying that due to abuse of the facilities they would only be open from 9am until, and I can’t remember the exact time, but it was something like 5pm. I took two things from this. The first was that it was just after 9 so they should be open. The second, why would anyone want to abuse a free facility. It’s really not on. Luckily I wasn’t desperate.

I didn’t dislike the beach though. It looked lovely and I wouldn’t avoid it. There were some shops and cafe’s although nothing was open yet. I’d quite happily live there so it was nice. I then walked on along, up a steep climb and along another set of cliffs, and then down into a clove. This was Chapel Porth Beech, it was small, with a small carpark and little cafe. And I would come here over Porthtowan beech every single time. I could have stayed for hours. Most people seem to pick the more commercial and busy beeches (which I guess it why they are busy) and I don’t understand that. I’m glad though as it works out better for me. If everybody was evenly spread out over the country it’d be pretty crowded on my walks.

I’ve met someone

I was making really good progress today. I’d already got to St Agnes Head and I thought that was going to take more of the day. The whole scenery for the day had been perfect and everything looked amazing. The sun had come out now as well. The storm the night before totally forgotten. It was quite windy up high.

St Agnes Head is, of course, worth a visit. I sat for a while there before making my way down towards Trevaunance Cove. As I started to descend I realised I had some mobile signal so thought I’d post the previous days blog post. Mobile signal is not always available so I sometimes struggle to get the pictures uploaded. While I was sat down a guy came up the path and started to talk to me. He was doing the whole coastal path, but the proper way round, from Minehead. He was about 18 days into his trip but said he might have to have a rest day as he had bad blisters. This is something I can sympathise with – although so far on this trip it’s not been an issue.

I’m not sure exactly why Nick had decided to do this walk but I got the feeling from him that he just needed something more from his life and this was, maybe, a first step. He told me he’d been given a sabbatical from work, unpaid unfortunately, but they’d told him, and I quote “do what you need to do and take as long as you want”. He mentioned his parents and how his Dad had retired a few years back but then instantly got dementia. I think it made Nick think. I felt so sorry about his Dad but I was impressed by Nick’s attitude. I think I could learn a lot from him.

He also mentioned how nice everyone was, both walkers and the locals. It does give you a different perspective about everyone. I would say it’s a shame towns aren’t more like that but you’d never get anything done as you’d have to say hello or have a conversation with everyone.

Curse of the sand dune

I grabbed my second breakfast of the day in Trevaunance Cove, finally managed to use a toilet, spoke to more people, and then headed towards Perranporth. It’s quite a long walk and I can’t quite remember all of it. Lots of old mines and crumbling cliffs with the occasional drop down into little beaches.

Not long before I got to Perranporth I noticed how the waves were interacting with the cliffs. The sea is so blue and inviting and the foam it creates from hitting the cliffs makes you want to jump in. It almost looks like a hot tub. The contrast amused me because if you actually did get in the water, it’d probably kill you.

As I descended into Perranporth I enjoyed my last bit of solitude as I filled up my water from a tap at a youth hostel, getting ready for people.

I’ve been to Perranporth a few times I think. Once when Jake was a baby and then again when Kian was a baby. It’s a very popular place, there is so much traffic, and the beach is packed. But it’s very popular so must be doing something right. The coastal path here actually runs along the beach so I did looked really out of place. Weaving around all the various wind breaks and sandcastles to get to the steps at the far end of the beach. Walking on sand, with a heavy pack, is a good workout for the legs. The it’s straight up the cliff and then down onto Perran Sands.

I don’t understand how two beaches, basically next to each other, can be so different. Perran Sands I think is probably the bigger beach but it was empty. Perranporth was packed. There must be a good reason.

Then you hit the sand dunes.

I got really lost.

Eventually I managed to get onto the beach and from there it was a delightful walk. I would probably recommend, if doing this walk, just use the beach. The sand dunes just over complicate it. This was not my last interaction with sand dunes either. They also have to be negotiated at Holywell Bay. I could feel my legs screaming at me.

Get a campsite

As I descended into Holywell Bay I decided that I didn’t want to wild camp and started to search for campsites on-line. I ended up finding one about 2 hours walk away but quite close to the path. This cheered me up. It worried me that it cheered me up so much. But, it did mean I was quite cheerful for the remaining walk around Kelsey Head and Pentire Point, knowing I could just pitch up and relax in a few miles.

I met another hiker who was walking with his dog. He was doing the path in weekly chunks and was, like me, mixing campsites with wild camping. He said he needed to be in St Ives by the 3rd of July so I think he’ll make it. We joked about wild camping and how it gets a bit tough after a few days in a row and the desire for a shower increases. It also takes the pressure off a bit as you don’t need to set up late and leave early.

I asked him about how it changes the experience walking with a dog. He told me that it does add to his anxiety with things like water because you can put yourself through extremes but it’s not fair to do that to someone else. Apparently, the minute his tent goes up the dog falls straight to sleep. I was a little envious but also glad I didn’t have that pressure.

I arrived at the campsite at around 5:30pm as predicted – I’m normally later than planned. The lady at reception was very welcoming and only charged me £5 which I think is a bargain. They had a shop which also sold hot food so I was very tempted but decided, as I’d been carrying it around for a few days, to use my stove and make some rice.

I’m so glad I’m using this campsite. I’ve just had a shower and feel much nicer. Everything gets quite grubby when you can’t wash properly.

Tomorrow I hit Newquay and there may be a ferry ride involved if it’s high tide. Otherwise it’ll be a low tide bridge. One is free and the other is fun.

One more thing

I’m not sure if this will work but I saw the most amazing thing when walking down into Trevaunance Cove. The bird just hovering and scanning the sea or land below. It was amazing.