Journal:
I slept
pretty well despite it being a cold night and my
tent exposed to the wind. The latter is
actually a good thing because I have a very light
tent, which although the roof is waterproof, it does
not breathe and condensation readily forms.
However, it's also very airy, lots of insect-proof
mesh, so that any kind of draft takes care of the
condensation. A very good sleeping bag is also
required, and I have one of those.
Anyway, I ended up
oversleeping and didn't wake until 7:30am. The
skies were clear and it looked like being a
beautiful day. I began walking along the
relatively low cliffs soon after 8am, listening to
the wrap-up on the new government in the UK.
I've had a very entertaining week listening to all
of the political programs on BBC4. The Coast
Path started well, giving views to the left over the
rocky/pebbly beach and grassy fields to the
right, however, I soon reached a portion of
"relocated" Path which wound steeply up and down,
was muddy and slippery, and had high close
vegetation on both sides. Progress was slow
and unpleasant. When it wound its way down to
the pebbly beach to cross a stream, I decided that
it might be easier to walk along the beach.
This turned out to be a poor decision as the pebbles
changed from small to large and I was constantly at
risk of falling or twisting an ankle. The
trekking poles came into their own, keeping me
upright. Progress was slow and once,
committed, returning wasn't really an option.
It was a rarely visited beach and there were all
kinds of jetsam on the beach, including a
still-inflated pink balloon with its string caught
between some rocks.
After about 1.5km and an
hour, I reached a place where I could get up the
cliffs and rejoined the Coast Path, which was now
very easy walking (of course!). Apart from
wasting time, I was also quite hungry and thirsty,
and looking forward to getting to Westward Ho! (yes,
that is a place name, including the exclamation
mark). I arrived at the much-developed beach
resort with it's odd mixture of caravan park and
multi-story apartment blocks, about 10:30am and
found a cafe where I ordered their "Mega Breakfast",
deciding against the "Super Mega Breakfast" more on
the basis of price than quantity. After
replenishing my emergency supplies with a couple of
bottles of Diet Coke and a quantity of Mars Bars, I
set out for Bideford via an assortment of footpaths
and country lanes. It was a beautiful morning,
but my enjoyment was still being tarnished by my
blistered feet. I reached Bideford, a busy
little town with traditional winding main street and
old houses, about 12:30pm and spent some time in two
pharmacies looking for First Aid supplies. I
bought some Elastoplast tape, found a nice bench in
the sun on the waterfront, and once more attended to
my feet. It was 1:30pm by the time, I crossed
the bridge out of town and joined the Tarka (rail)
Trail and saw it was 9 miles to Barnstaple, my
target for the night. I wanted to get there
before 5pm to collect a parcel of maps for the next
section I had mailed to myself care of the Post
Office, and had also decided to try and buy some
decent running shoes to use as footwear instead of
my boots. When I hiked the Appalachian Trail
25 years ago, I started out with boots and had
problems and switched to running shoes with success.
I tackled the 9 miles of
sealed bike path at a good pace, despite sore feet
and enjoyed its rural path with occasional views
over the river estuary to the left. There were
lots of other path users on bikes and foot,
including several runners. I had a break after
six miles for a refreshing ice-cream and reached
Barnstaple, a large town, soon after 4:30pm.
After getting directions from a taxi driver to the
Post Office, I picked up my parcel and asked the
lady where the nearest running shoe shop was.
She gave me directions and I hurried there,
concerned that they would be soon closing.
They were indeed vacuuming the shop when I arrived,
but the two young guys were helpful, despite not
having my size in the first two types of Nikes I
selected. I finally went for a good New
Balance pair (as used on the Appalachian Trail) and
also bought some extra cushion in soles for them.
When I took my boots off to try the shoes on, I
nearly gassed myself. I thought I might have
to give CPR to the young guy serving, but he
soldiered on manfully. I bought the shoes and
wore them out of the shop looking, I'm sure,
completely ridiculous in the bright white shoes as I
wandered off looking for somewhere to stay. I
found a hotel, a bit more expensive than I would
like, on the edge of the town centre, where I got a
shoebox of a room, but nice and clean. After a
shower, more foot doctoring, and rinsing out my
clothes, I walked back into town and had a pub
dinner (Wetherspoons.....a chain providing cheap
food in good quantities and looked down on by many).
I have now finished with
the Coast Path and head inland to Exmoor and beyond,
following a less-travelled route. I'm looking
forward to it and hoping it won't be as physically
demanding as the Coast Path. Although, I'm
actually feeling quite strong and fit, apart from
the feet. Here's hoping the new shoes do the
trick. I'll carry the boots for a day or two
and then, if not needed, mail them back to Keith and
Fin's.
