South West Coast Path Day 2.
Distance today: 21.3 miles.
Total distance: 1109.5 miles.
Accommodation: hostel.
My completist principles were put to the test when I was faced with going down to Lynmouth to re-join the SWCP, knowing that I’d then only have to climb back up the same hill somewhere else. Alternatively, I could let common sense (and laziness) prevail and take a shortcut via Lynton that would miss out a small section of the SWCP and, more importantly another steep hill. Let’s just say I was sticking to the spirit of the SWCP rather than the literal path.
Today was a fantastic day of coastal walking. Okay it might have included over 3000 feet of climbing but that was a small price to pay for some stunning views. Just past Lynton along a tarmac(!) path was the Valley of Rocks. It was a bit of a Hollywood name, or at least a potential B movie. Return to the Valley of Rocks. The rocks in question tended to be quite regular in shape and when stacked on top of each other, they looked like a child’s building blocks, about to tumble over. The whole place had the vague feel of an alien landscape. And, as advertised, there were wild goats, although they weren’t very entertaining. I think they were all lying down in anticipation of the tourist buses. I’ve heard they only like to play to a bigger crowd.
It still amazes me that for something so beautiful, you barely meet a soul on route. Maybe the hills put people off. As ever, there was the moral dilemma of wanting more people to enjoy it but not that many, that they would spoil it. Heading down into Combe Martin, I did bump into Catherine and Nigel (let’s call them that) and they very kindly bought me a coffee at the Redwood café. They’d somehow got ahead of me even though I think I started earlier. I did know that they were using a bag shuttle service to save them having to carry all their gear, something I could see me doing at some point in the future.
After Combe Martin came the hamlet of Watermouth. It was a pretty area complete with castle, harbour and several camping possibilities. The SWCP passed through the Watermouth Valley Camping Park and it provided a classic example of why I like to stick to the trail where possible. There was an obvious shortcut through the campsite but by staying on the path, I was treated to the view down onto the stunning Broadsands Beach. From my high vantage point, the side where the sea came in was hidden by trees, giving the magical illusion of a tropical lagoon.
When it came to the daily question of where was I planning to stop for the night, today’s answer was Ilfracombe. It was about the right distance and even though there were no handy campsites in range, it did have a hostel. As I approached what I thought was Ilfracombe, happily thinking my hill walking was done for the day, I soon realised that it was in fact Hele Bay, and the SWCP still had one final evil climb in store. That is unfriendly. Unsurprisingly, this led to a fair amount of swearing. Why oh why? The justification became apparent once I’d climbed out of the woodland and reached the cliff edge. There in front of me was the amazing view of the coast heading down to Ilfracombe harbour. Absolutely beautiful.
Ocean Backpackers was pretty central to town – central enough to have its own gang of teenage girls sitting on the wall opposite, swearing and shouting. I was sharing the ground floor dorm with a cool older dude (think Sam Elliot in Road House) and a young woman called Grace, both walking the trail – or at least a section of it. After having a bite to eat at the Smugglers restaurant, the final treat for the day was a harbourside wander as the sun went down. I wouldn’t say it was a classic sunset but there was just a lovely atmospheric glow both in the sky and reflected in the water. It had been a good day.
