Day 46 - Joining the dots

With only five days to go, this week will be all about joining the dots to complete the double circuit of the Cornish Coast Path.

Today was joining the dots between Caerhays Castle and Nare Head, a walk listed as Strenuous in my Bartholemew's guide.

The weather in the morning was horrendous, with driving rain and winds gusting to 40 MPH, so I waited until later in he day to set off (forecasters gave hope of decreasing winds, reduced rain and even some sunny spells!).

I arrived at Caerhays Castle (or at least the beach at the end of it's driveway) at 12:30hrs. The wind was still gusting hard and the sea was looking rough. Below is a picture I took when I got back at the end of the walk, when conditions and the tide, had turned.

The walk starts relatively gently, with a walk up the road pf about 350 - 400 yds, before the coast path can be reached by a small flight of steps where the road bends to the right. Once through the gate at the top of the stairs it's a easy walk across a couple of fields before the path becomes more traditionally a coast path for the mile or so to Portholland Cove.

Portholland Cove is shared by East Portholland and West Portholland, although neither has much in the way of habitats! East Portholland leads the way with a dozen or so houses and the best part of the Cove (pictured below), whilst West Portholland looks to be older and has about half a dozen holiday lets.

In the picture below, East Portholland is farthest from the camera, whilst a little bit of West Portholland can be seen in the foreground.

The climb out of Portholland is the first indication of the steeper ups and downs that are to be tackled to get up to Nare Head by way of Portloe.

Today's walk has ascents exceeding 2000 feet in total, and most of those are between Portholland and Nare Head.

Two miles after Portholland, and after a few stiff climbs, you come to Portloe. A small fishing community in the past, it retains most of the character and charm that I associate with these tiny Cornish villages. With a Hotel right on the slipway (The Lugger Inn) it now has a small tourist trade (aided by very little public parking) that means it is able to remain unspoilt by the usual crowds of day trippers.

The white building (centre right) in the picture above is the Lugger Inn, with the rest of the village climbing the valley behind, or along the road that leads up the right hand side of the picture along another valley. The coastal path takes you from here, down into the bottom of the village, past the Lugger Inn, before climbing past the white building on the left and climbing all the way up to the cliff in the left of the picture. The path is fairly steep and long, with the added hazard today that it was a little wet from the rain.

Above is the view of Portloe from halfway up the path towards Nare Head, the coast path can be seen climbing up past the three grey cottages just left of centre.

From Portloe, I had about a mile and a half to complete to meet up with the point on Nare Head where I had ended my walk on day 27. The terrain continued it's ups and downs, with the last mile or so from Manare Point to the high point above Parc Gargloose Cove being the most challenging due to wet grass / paths and a little ( for little read lot) of tiredness.

The first picture below shows the view from Manare Point up towards Nare Head, whilst the second one is taken from my 'end point' back towards Manare Point.

I don't mind admitting, dear reader, that I struggled on the way back today. After forty five days of walking, the knees and feet are quick to start giving pain and, as fatigue increases, it becomes harder to ignore. I have four days left and 49.8 miles to do, so I will arm myself with some Ibuprofen and plod on.

Interestingly today (and for no reason I can pinpoint), I spent the whole of the way back singing to myself under my breath. The song that caused this was Johnny Cash's "Fulsom Prison Blues" after the second verse popped into my head!

When I was just a baby

My Mama told me, "Son

Always be a good boy

Don't ever play with guns, "

But I shot a man in Reno

Just to watch him die

When I hear that whistle blowin'

I hang my head and cry

https://youtu.be/bDktBZzQIiU

Very strange?!