Well, the guide books did say today’s stage was probably the toughest of the whole path. Whilst until I finish, I can’t confirm if that’s true or not, what I can say was that it was a lung busting calf burning sort of a day!
I stayed last night at YHA Elmscott. It was ok, but I wouldn’t rave about it, although I did have a dorm to myself.
I left just before 9am and quickly rejoined the coast path. Initially it was relatively easy going, cliff top walking. The weather was absolutely perfect. Wall to wall sunshine, but relatively cool with a refreshing breeze.
The bliss of cliff top walking was soon punctured by the first of the nine steep sided valleys I needed to traverse. Whether it was because it was the first or not, but I think it was the most brutal climb of the lot! I had to stop several times and reached the summit dripping in sweat and gasping for air! However, the advantage of today’s stage, was that you were rewarded for all that pain, by stunning views.
No sooner had I climbed the first, then we quickly had an equally tough descent into the next valley. Whilst I already wanted to stop for a rest, I forced myself to climb the next hill before that could happen.
Some people have staggering settings for their homes!
It is also nice to see wild flowers in abundance in the harshest of positions.
Very soon I reached a significant milestone in my challenge, as we crossed the border from Devon to Cornwall!
Whilst I’ve still got a long way to go, I’m quite chuffed with myself for a least having walked the entire coastline of North Devon!
Unfortunately, just because I crossed the border, it didn’t alter the difficulty of the stage. There were another 6 valleys to descend/ascend and they kept coming quickly after each other.
Some had steps to descend, which are nearly always set just too short/long for your stride!
Sometimes, it was nice to look back where you had come from.
Someone round here is quite keen to see SkySports😜
Eventually, I traversed the final valley and managed to get a phone signal on the next headland. My feet were really aching and sore, so I decided that I need to reward myself with my progress so far, by having a rest day tomorrow. I therefore phoned around to find somewhere to stay and found a campsite at Poughill ( pronounced Puffill). I didn’t ask the price over the phone and nearly had a heart attack when having walked the 2 miles or so to the site, to find that it was £30 for a night! I was too tired to look for anywhere else, so begrudgingly paid the fee. Having said that, it is the poshest campsite I’ve ever stayed on (including when I had my motorhome) with every conceivable facility. I also forgot that it is a Bank Holiday weekend, so no doubt the price reflects that!
It took longer than I expected to walk to the site, so I had to take refreshment on board!
I’ve only walked 14 miles today (and only about 12 of them official coast path miles) but I’ve climbed over 3350 feet (1020 m) and taken over 40,000 steps!
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