Day 3 Lynton to Watermouth Bay

 What can I say, another absolute beast of a day! 

I left my campsite at Sunny Lyn at 8am. Unfortunately, the reception was closed when I arrived and hadn’t opened by the time I left. There was no honesty box, so I didn’t pay to camp. Sorry Sunny Lyn, but you snooze you lose! 

It was overcast and a bit drizzly! 

I walked into Lynton to get some food for lunch.


I re-joined the coast path and soon made my way to the iconic Valley of Rocks. Like all these things, it wasn’t as spectacular as I was expecting, but nevertheless still stunning, especially the herd of goats!


The path then soon reverted to type, returning to wooded valleys, with lots of ascents and descents. In fact I’m thinking of renaming the SWCP to the Southwest What Goes Up Must Come Down Then Straight Back Up Again Only Steeper This Time Path! 

A classic example is Heddon Valley. 

The descent was fairly steep into the valley bottom where there was a lovely stone bridge to cross the river. 
Heddon Valley is allegedly England’s steepest valley. 

Well, it was certainly a bl**dy steep climb out of it. The path goes straight up in places, just look at the gradient! 

As you can see the sun had come out by now, so you can imagine what a sweaty mess I was climbing that! 
Once I got to the top, I stopped for some lunch and much needed energy boost! 
 Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of climbing for the day, because I then had to ascend Great Hangman, which at 318m is the highest point of the SWCP! 




By the time I reached the summit, I was exhausted. I kept eating but the ‘hit’ would only last a few minutes and then I would need a rest again! 

The slow descent into Coombe Martin seemed to go on for ever and by the time I reached the harbour, I dived into the first available pub for a pint of lager and pint of water!

As I hadn’t arranged anywhere to stay, I summoned up the energy to continue walking the coast path to Watermouth Bay, where I am camping at Watermouth alley Campsite! 
It’s a lovely site, I am further round the corner than this shot shows, not far from a pub! 

So it turned into another 16 mile (26km) day, with another 3200 ft (975m) of ascent.  My Achilles was aching all day, the first time it has flared up this walk. It’s ok, just a bit swollen. I have also got a ‘hot spot’ on the right heal sole. It hasn’t actually turned into a blister, but I put some compeed on to try and prevent one. 

The suggested itinerary for tomorrow is Woolacombe. I fancy having an easy day and need to do some personal admin in Ilfracombe, so I will play it by ear. 

Comments

  1. titch22May 25, 2022 at 9:30 PM

    Read so much about this beast of a day.... Seems like it's all true. Congrats on conquering the climbs.

    ReplyDelete

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