DAY 3 PORTHLEVEN TO MULLION

One of the most well known journeys along the coast path is that outlined by Raynor Winn in her memoir The Salt Path, but following recent controversy regarding its veracity, it seems an appropriate moment for me to take stock and consider the whys and wherefores of our own series of treks along the Path.  Those of you who have followed our story from the beginning will know that the catalyst for our undertaking was my recovery from a cracked heel bone; an impact injury resulting from a fall, when the horse I was riding spooked during a canter.  Having a goal in mind was important whilst I literally learned to walk again.  I hadn’t suffered pain when I was resting my foot, but it certainly hurt as I started putting weight on it-just walking to our local shop was far enough initially, and even as I began to cover a greater distance, I continued to feel twinges and aches for some months afterwards.  The lure of being able to walk a beautiful stretch of coastline was hugely encouraging.  Now, of course, I am fully recovered, so it seems time to ask the question, why carry on?  I suppose the simple answer is that we have both succumbed to the magic of the Path; the sense of personal achievement after completing an especially challenging section, the knowledge that you are part of a community [the people you meet as well as the ones in whose footsteps you tread] who love this part of our island, and the simple joy of being outside and experiencing the breathtaking scenery.  We are determined to carry on and complete the entire Path; our third walk of this season is all booked for September [and yes, we are going back to cover the part we missed between Pendeen and St Just!], and another four or five outings should see us cover the whole path.  Meanwhile, I’m a bit behind with the blog which is continuing to cover our April stint.

We left our accommodation at 9.30am, but we only got as far as a bakery in Porthleven for a coffee and croissant breakfast.  We set off properly about 10am-there was a chill in the air, and although the wind had dropped from the wild 40mph speeds before, it was still running around 25mph.  Not too bad in sheltered spots, but troublesome in open areas.  One such was Loe Bar, a stretch of shingle beach [the stones are much smaller than those on Chesil Beach, but just as tiring to walk on] between cliffs.  Approaching it was a steep descent on loose shale, and I lost my footing and landed on my [fortunately well padded] derrière.  I wouldn’t have minded, but it was right in front of people walking up hill!  No damage done, and we began traversing the Bar; this was quite a slog against the wind and over the shingle underfoot, so we were relieved to get some respite on a nice track on the other side.

We took a very small detour inland to have lunch at The Halzephron Inn; it’s always nice to have a proper rest, 45 minutes in this case.  We resumed at 12.30pm with a little over half way to go.  My knees and one ankle were twinging, and my right little toe was beginning to complain, but my voice memo described these as minor niggles.  

The afternoon continued pleasantly as we passed pretty coves with plenty of refreshment opportunities.  Overall, a fairly moderate section for difficulty, just a final steep haul up to our relatively posh stay at the Polurrian on the Lizard.  Lovely to relax in a bath for a change, though that doesn’t help with my old nemesis Mr Pinky Blister-I was going to have to wrap it up well the next day.

Stats:-

Time 3hr 10mins.  Distance 7.53 miles.  Pace 2.4mph.  Ascent 800ft.  Descent 725ft.

DAY 4 MULLION TO LIZARD

My first two voice memos for today are barely audible above the roar of the wind!  The wind speed was still around 25mph, cooling an otherwise sunny day and making life difficult, as we were walking into a headwind.  It was only half a mile to Mullion Cove, involving some scrambling before we ascended on the other side to a grassy headland.  At this point, I waxed lyrical about the splendour of the spring wildflowers, [this was April] blue and white bells in particular were numerous, along with plenty of yellow gorse and hawthorn blossom.

Another feature of the week was the number of stepping stones we crossed.  I have found that each of our walks tends to have a theme, such as beaches and sand dunes, multiple ferry crossings, clambering over boulders, and this week, the stepping stones.  The grassland was predominantly firm underfoot, but at the bottom of slopes there were areas of extreme bogginess-our boots would have sunk deeply into the mud had it not been for the well placed stones.  There were also a number of small brooks and streams to cross.  Streams on the Path mostly have a bridge or stepping stones, but in other sections we have had to leap across the brooks.  This week though, the boots stayed dry!  For most of the time, the going over grassland was quite pleasant, but the Path was indistinct, so we relied on Komoot to keep us on track.  However, Paul took a wide detour as we came across a herd of cows with big horns!   By noon we had made good progress, though this was temporarily halted when we reached a horrid downhill slope, scattered with small rocks, which we negotiated with great care.

We reached Kynance Cove at 1pm, perfect for a half hour Cornish pasty lunch stop.  Aside from the headwind, the only other niggle was the blisters forming on both the top and bottom of my little right toe, necessitating a dose of paracetamol.  But pain and wind free, this would be a really lovely walk!  However, we were still going well as we headed inland towards our accommodation in the village of Lizard at the Top House Inn, which we reached just before check in at 3 pm.  Lizard Point, the most southerly point on the British mainland, awaited us on the next day’s walk.

Stats:-

Time 2hr 51 mins.  Distance 7.28 miles.  Pace 2.6mph.  Ascent 825ft.  Descent 775ft.

DAY 3 GALLERY

DAY 4 GALLERY