I think today will be one of those days that I look back upon with fond memories but actually at the time was a bit of a slog. The weather has been pretty unpleasant with rain and fairly strong winds plus the path from my camping spot, near Port Isaac, to here has been relentless. Now, it has been quite misty all day but that is one of the things that I didn’t mind. It gave the landscape a certain mystique so I actually quite liked that. In fact, for much of the day I was alone, so it actually gave you a feeling of being out in the wilderness and quite isolated.

I’ve been thinking about the coastal path in that way. Because some sections really don’t get walked as much as others. There are very popular sections, but then some are barely walked. For example, when I was in Lulworth a few weeks ago, everyone was making here way to Durdle Door but very few people were walking the ranges back to Kimmeridge. It made me think today about how I could have an accident one side of a settlement and be found instantly, and on the other side it could be days.

Need a spring clean

The wild camp ended up being great. As I said, I was starting to get worried about an hour after leaving Port Isaac when I wasn’t finding any suitable spots. I kept on thinking about all the people I saw in the town heading out to dinner or for a drink, and I was here, stuck in the middle of nowhere, nowhere to sleep, and getting a little nervous. If any of them had known about the Strawberries I was carrying I’m sure they would have changed places with me.

So when I woke up in the morning, not trampled, I was a really happy man. I hadn’t yet had a chance to write the post for the day because I was so tired when I pitched up so I did ponder writing that before I set off. It was only 6am so I did have time. But it had been raining on and off and the tent was currently dry so I decided to pack up and get moving. I also didn’t to tempt fate as I was convinced I was going to be told off by an angry farmer or attacked by some cattle. Decision made, I packed up and left, making a mental note that the tent contains far more sand than I’d like. I was pretty chuffed with this camp. It was so nearly a disaster and ended up fine. I was a bit annoyed with myself as I was convinced something was going to go wrong. So I didn’t change out of my walking clothes to sleep and didn’t properly set up my sleeping system so the night wasn’t as comfortable as it should have been.

Just keep counting

I headed off on my walk with a bit of a spring in my step. The views are beautiful on this section and I had them all to myself. It hadn’t started raining yet but I could see the weather coming in. I just felt glad to have managed to put away a dry tent and the rain didn’t really worry me. After about 2 miles of quite challenging walking – well it is the coast – I suddenly had a thought about my pegs. Because I’d put the tent down slightly different due to the small size of my pitch I worried that I’d not picked them all up properly. I’m normally quite systematic in the way I do it, but it was all different this morning and I’d been less organised.

I kept thinking that if I’d left any, I’d walked so far now I wouldn’t go back, and I’d cope with a couple less so it’d be ok. No point in stopping and checking because there was nothing I could do about it anyway. Needless to say, I stopped and counted the pegs. Then I stopped again to check I’d put them back in my bag after I counted them. I was exactly the same with swimming lessons at primary school. I used to always think I’d forgotten my swimming trunks (yes, I’m old) and would constantly check I had them. It was tiring.

Timing is everything

As I neared Trebarwith Beach I started to notice lots of good wild camping spots. This always happens but I don’t think I had enough energy to walk much further last night and these spots would probably have been too exposed to the elements so I’m glad I stopped where I did the night before.

Whilst descending to Trebarwith I saw the first people I’d seen all day. This was at 10:15am and I’d been walking since before 7am. I must admit I wasn’t walking very fast as it was quite tough going but this still seemed a long time. They were climbing out of the village as I was descending but we had a quick chat. They’d walked from Tintagel and were heading to Port Isaac and seemed a nice couple. They told me they’d left quite late because a big rain storm had come through in the morning. I guess I had been lucky to miss that.

In Trebarwith I sat in a cafe and wrote a post for the walk the day before and had some breakfast while several rain storms came through. I should have written it the night before but it’d been such a long day I was exhausted and didn’t have the energy.

Same place – very different day

As I was getting ready to leave the cafe a lady and her partner were talking about the coast path. She’d completed most of the north coast but was coming back to fill in the odd gap she’d left. Her partner said he wasn’t a walker but had been dragged down for this section. He’d better be careful because it’d addictive. They seemed really nice and told me that I’d be at Tintagel in just over an hour because it wasn’t far now, just a bit up and down. They were heading to Port Isaac which I informed them has similar traits.

It started raining on the next step and continued on and off for the rest of the day. It was also quite windy so it was quite hard work. Tintagel I remember from a previous holiday during a really hot summer. Kian had insisted on keeping his hoodie on. I remember feeling hot just looking at him. This time, it was wet and misty with a school trip which had mainly the boys, running around without coats on and getting drenched. So a similar theme really – children do daft things. Although I can’t talk, about an hour later it had stopped raining but I’d still got my hood up – I sometimes wear it over my hat when the rain is bad – and it was like I was walking in a sauna.

Funnily enough, it’s not just kids and me, I later saw a man walking in bare feet. I never wear shoes unless I have to, I have been known to pop into shops bare footed, but I really think some kind of foot wear is required for the coastal path. Although I imagine this gentleman would disagree.

I’m not proud of myself

The coastline from Tintagel all the way to Bude is apparently pretty tough. I think I’ve only made it half way today but I found it really hard work. I don’t like to say this because I’m so lucky to be able to do this, but I had a moment when I wasn’t enjoying the walk. Dare I say, I was even feeling a bit sorry for myself.

The weather wasn’t helping, it was pretty grim, and my feet were wet. But I was just finding the climbing so difficult. It was like I had no energy left. I was carrying on, because I couldn’t just stop on the path, but every step was taking all the effort I had.

I decided that I was going to have to stop soon and that I really wanted to have a shower so a campsite was required. So that’s what I’ve done. Showered and in my pyjamas by 7pm. It’s like being at home – except I don’t normally wear pyjamas at home. I feel better for it though. When Colin the campsite owner came over to my tent to check me in I warned him to stay away from my wet socks, now discarded, by the side of the tent. I think he appreciated the warning. He told me that once I get to Bude it gets a bit easier.

As I left the path to head for the campsite I saw the amazing coastline laid out in front of me and it looked spectacular. Now I get to do that tomorrow with fresh legs and dry socks. I think I’ll like that.

So, it’s been a tough end to the walking day. I was tired and the path had me a little bit beat. But I know I’ll look back in the future on this day and think how lucky I was to be there.