DAY 1 ST IVES TO ZENNOR

The next two days walking would see us cover one of the most notorious sections of the Path.  It was difficult to see why at first glance; neither the distances nor the elevations seemed too severe compared to other parts.  The challenge appeared to lay in the terrain, so we were rather apprehensive as we arrived back in St Ives.  It was August, so naturally, the town was heaving and the weather was decidedly dodgy!

We had parked the car in Penzance, and caught the train to St Ives.  The guest house we stayed in last time had been underwhelming, so we’d upgraded to The Lifeboat Inn, positioned right on the harbour front.  There was quite a crowd on the jetty, so we walked over to discover that a seal was entertaining them all at close quarters.  Next door to the pub, we ate locally sourced fish (and chips) and watched the lifeboat launch.  So far, so very Cornish!

When we set off the next morning, it was drizzling but mild; this meant it was necessary to get the waterproofs on, but I hadn’t walked far before I was boiling!  First stop was the coastguard hut on the headland for a passport stamp.  It was quite breezy as we made our way along the headland and around Porthmeor Beach.  There was a toilet block in the car park at the other end of the beach-the last facilities before our next accommodation.  By now it was 10.30 am, we’d been out for an hour, and yet I felt like we hadn’t really got going as we were still amongst civilisation!  Now though, we picked up the path towards Clodgy Point, and it was proper tarmac.  The easy going was short lived, alas, soon becoming a track, and then the first scrambling of the day.  You have to keep looking down to avoid tripping on the rocky stones.  On the plus side, the sun had come out, and we took off our waterproof trousers.  Paul, ever the optimist, even put some sun cream on!

As the morning proceeded, we had ups, downs, more scrambling, and gained a walking buddy.  Jeffrey was walking solo; he’d caught up with us, but after a brief chat, continued at our pace for a bit of company.  He was wearing trail shoes, which were definitely an advantage on the areas where we were climbing over boulders, as he had ankle flexion.  Our boots are great for support and walking over stony ground, but we had less grip and flexibility on the many clambering sections.  About 12.30 pm we finally found a couple of stones suitable to sit on for a lunch stop, but it soon began to rain again, so the waterproofs went back on.  Unfortunately on this free website, I can’t post videos [maybe I can post it on Facebook when I publish the blog] but I took one where we were walking in squally rain into a vicious headwind on one of the more open stretches, so even when we weren’t scrambling, there wasn’t much respite!  At one point, Jeffrey stepped right into a muddy patch-I tried to avoid it by stepping on a clump of grass, but my foot just slipped straight off into the mud anyway.  Luckily, I didn’t hurt myself in the process, and I was able to clean up my boots by filling the Boot Buddy brush with water from a brook.  It’s come in quite handy at times!  Looking back at my photos, I’m disappointed that I seem to have missed some of the more extreme moments, but of course, when I was trying to work my way across boulders without doing the splits, stopping for a selfie wasn’t uppermost on my mind!

Confession time; we took a short cut across the Zennor headland saving about three quarters of a mile [Jeffrey carried on the Path proper] as our legs were getting very tired.  This isn’t typical-often my feet ache, and I breathe heavily on the steep uphill sections, but we hadn’t had huge elevations today.  It had been brutal on the legs because we couldn’t get into a rhythm, and the scrambling and climbing had taken its toll accordingly.  The Tinner’s Arms was a very welcome sight.  After a shower, we had an early meal, and I left Paul having a drink with Jeffrey as I retired to the bedroom for a good rest before we faced more of the same the next day.  

Stats:-

Time 3hrs.  Distance 7.29 miles.  Pace 2.4mph.  Ascent 675ft.  Descent 525ft.