Day 2 Porlock to Lynton

 As I expected, I had an awful night’s sleep. I always do when I first try camping. I can never get comfortable, despite having a nice inflatable mattress. Usually, by the third night, my body has become accustomed to the change! 

I got up at 6:45 and made a nice cup of tea. I then walked into the village and got some lunch (pasty and a sandwich). 

By the time I had packed everything away, it was 8:50 before I left the campsite. I walked back down towards the beach and rejoined the coast path. 

Virtually every guide book provides an itinerary with suggested ‘stages’. Officially I didn’t complete yesterday’s stage, because I was supposed to have walked to Porlock Weir. So, the first task of the day was to finish that section. 

It was surprisingly difficult because firstly I had to negotiate the inland marsh, that has developed as a result of a breach in the natural pebble bank. It was quite pretty seeing the submarine forest.

( All I could see was old trees. I’ve no idea where the submarine’s were😂)

After that, there was a difficult walk along the beach. It was treacherous and easy to go over on your ankle, so I was glad to get off!

I reached Porlock Weir at 10am, already sweating buckets, so I had a quick coffee stop at the Ship Inn. 

Soon after that, the path entered Culbone Woods. To be honest, I was glad to be out of the direct sun. However, there were some brutal climbs. It was constant up/down up/down. 

The authorities have done a brilliant job to clear away some landslides and fallen trees. Part of this section of path has been closed for a while, but it is all open again. 

Despite being in the woods, you got the occasional glimpse of the coast. 

Soon I reached Culbone Church, allegedly England’s smallest Parish Church. I had a quick sit down in the churchyard. 

After that, the undulations were constant. It was a real tough slog. You just had to get into the ‘zone’ and ignore all the complaints your lungs and muscles were making. 

Eventually I reached a small clearing, where there was a handy tree stump to seat on and have lunch! 

I met Tom, a German English Teacher, if that makes sense( Tom is German and lives in Germany, where he used to teach English.) He was a interesting person and is over here doing a stretch from Minehead to Padstow. We both agreed that we preferred walking alone at our own pace, but caught one another up for a chat several times. 

Eventually, we broke out of the tree cover and got our first view down to Lynmouth.

It seemed quite near, but looks can be deceptive. The walk down to the village seemed never-ending. By the time I reached Lynmouth I was shattered and couldn’t be bothered to have a proper walk around. 

I knew I had a steep climb to reach the campsite at Lynbridge, but it was absolutely beastly.

I reached the campsite at 5:45pm and reception was closed. I helped myself to a pitch and got the tent up seconds before the rain came.

Today, I have walked 13.5 miles of the official coast path. In actual fact I have walked 16.1 miles and climbed over 4300ft ( 26km and 1310 m climb)! 

My Achilles has been fine, but my shoulders are sore and my legs beginning to seize up. I haven’t had chance to stretch off properly because it’s been raining ever since I got to camp. I have managed to stretch my stomach by popping to the next door Thai restaurant and have green curry followed by sticky toffee pudding! 

Tomorrow the standard itinerary is to Coombe Martin, but I’ll see how I feel in the morning!