First things first, I’m not lying about this walk. This whole thing hasn’t been some elaborate plot to make everyone think I’ve walked the whole SWCP when I’ve been actually sat at home hoping to profit from a book. Maybe generating all the videos and tracking by some fancy AI thing. To be clear, I’d find it easier to do the walk than work out how to do that.

I often find myself getting wound up by conspiracy theorists who think the earth is flat or that the moon landings were faked. I find it strange how they cling onto little details, that maybe look inconsistent at first glance, and then decide this proves that something is faked. I thought about the day where I was having issues with the software providing the data to my website and Jenny was restarting the program for me and making database changes while I talked to her on the phone. At that time, anyone viewing my website would see the icon showing where I was doing all sorts of strange things. Jumping around, moving back to the start and then wizzing along. I thought of the conspiracy theorist who would see that and prove it was all faked. It made me chuckle to myself.

Luckily, not many people are following my walk so I won’t have to defend it. But it did make me think, in this world of distrust, how if I was famous or more popular, people would start to question my authenticity.

But, as I finally get to my point, I have found myself being dishonest and it has bothered me today. Sometimes when I meet people on the trail, when I get asked if I’m walking the whole path, before I get around to saying I’ve walked it before and this is my second time, really nice and kind people start to tell me about the bits I’ve got to come. They seem to enjoy giving all the details. How beautiful it is, or how hard a particular point is. They relish in telling me what they’ve done or give advice. And I don’t want to ruin it for them by saying that I’ve walked it before.

I often do tell people I’ve walked it before, but sometimes it seems wrong to mention it. But then I feel dishonest. Today I had a lovely conversation with a couple and I didn’t mention it and I do regret that. But the lady seemed to be having a good time telling me about the last bit I had to come, and what to avoid, I didn’t want her to have to stop, so I listened and thanked her.

But I don’t like being dishonest. So I’m sort of caught by this double edged sword. Maybe I think too much!

Different people in camp

The path is still really quiet. I can walk for hours and not see anyone. And for this whole trip, even when I’ve been to campsites, I’ve not seen many backpackers. This changed last night when I turned up at the campsite to find multiple small tents, all accompanied by people who had walked from Minehead and were making their way around the trail. For most this was their second night but for one father and son, it was their first.

Obviously, this wasn’t the first time I’d used a campsite, and it wasn’t even the closest to the trail, so I can only assume that it was because I was close to the ‘start’ of the SWCP so hikers were more concentrated at this stage and as they make their way around the course they’ll disperse more. It’s just a theory of course but I did think that if I ever got into the campsite business, buying one about a days walk from the start of a popular trail would be the most lucrative option.

I did enjoy being a bit of a novelty as I was the only one going backwards, and of course, the only one soon to finish. Some were jealous of me, but I think they were the lucky ones, they had all those miles ahead of them, they had it all to come.

Some were already struggling and I wanted to reassure them that it was early and they would get used to it. Others were already contemplating buses. One lad was loudly declaring to anyone who was struggling that it was meant to be fun and they should stop if they had any aches or pains. I didn’t like that. I felt he was welcome to feel that way but shouldn’t be ridiculing others based on how he felt. Walking this route, for me anyway, has been a challenge, and also for me, that’s part of the fun. We’re all different. I think he was just projecting to make himself feel better about his decision to get a bus for the next section.

I enjoyed being around these people, and I found it fascinating how they were all different, with different approaches and attitudes, but were all taking on the same challenge. I did feel relieved though that I’d spend most of my time on my own and doing my own thing. I enjoy these groups, but not for too long.

Take your shoes off

It rained a lot in camp and there was no way I’d be putting away a dry tent today, so after breakfast, I just had to put everything away wet. I could tell how wet the tent was because my pack felt heavy. The forecast wasn’t looking great either so I didn’t think I’d be drying it out during the day.

It took a while to get back to the path as it was about a mile and I had to go to a shop to buy some lunch for later. There are no shops until Porlock and I didn’t want to make the mistake I’d made last time and run out of food. I was going to be better prepared this time.

I then took the steps down to Lynmouth, pausing briefly to watch the Cliff Railway pass, and then pushed through the town and back up the steep climb on the roughly 12 mile trek to Porlock.

While still climbing I met a couple who were out walking. They were on holiday and exploring some of the coastline. I really liked them and we had a long chat. I told them I was nearly finished (and also that I’d walked it before!) and talked about life after the path. How I was both excited and worried about going home, how the kids were messy, about my lack of work and not being sure if that bothered me or not. It was a great conversation.

Then they told me the story of how one of their kids, who when at home had been really messy, had now moved out. They recalled how they’d gone to visit him, and as they walked in, he’d asked his Dad to remove his shoes. He’d apparently said to his son – “you’re having a laugh aren’t you!”. It really made me laugh, they told the story better than I did, and also gave me hope that my kids will one day become tidy.

Fallen trees

Visibility was bad in the morning. At one point I couldn’t even work out where the path was and what direction to go without consulting my map. But also, every now and then, the mist would lift and give great views of the sea and coastline. It all looked quite mysterious.

The path stays high up on top of the cliffs for a while and then, for the final 8 miles heads into woodland somehow clinging to the side of a steep hill. I was looking around, glad I wasn’t trying to find anywhere to camp, because the ground was thick with undergrowth and at such an angle it’d be impossible to camp. There have been reports of ticks from other hikers and I suspected they were coming from these forests.

Every so often the trees would clear enough to give a view of the sea but for the most part it felt inland. It was also easy to forget how high the path was until these clearings, where looking down made me feel giddy.

I think there has been a lot of landfall around here and there are quite a few fallen trees. These trees are so big, the root balls ripped out of the ground leaving large craters, some now filled in with rocks to maintain the path. I imagined what it must be like to witness a tree like this coming down. The force would be indescribable.

Delayed gratification

It took me quite a long time to get, first to Porlock Weir and then, still along the coast path for part of it, to the campsite in Porlock.

There is so much trust at these sites. On arrival I called the owners and they said to post the fee into a box or to pay by card in the morning. They rely on honesty. You could easily get away with camping for free or just using the facilities and then leaving. I hope people don’t do this – when someone is trusting it feels even worse to take advantage of them.

The campsite was a few hundred yards from the pubs and shops of Porlock so I was tempted to treat myself to a meal and drink. But no, I thought, I’d just get some supplies and eat that last packet of Supernoodles. I’d like to enjoy my next nice meal with Jenny tomorrow when we, hopefully, celebrate completing the walk and being reunited.

This has been a long adventure so putting those nice things off for another day will make them all the sweeter.

I did buy myself a Calipo though!