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This year's planned chunk of the South West Coast Path was due to be the biggest section yet, but circumstances had another idea and we had to cut it short. Here's the story. Day 0: Friday 18 May It’s all been a bit weird. I finished most of the planning for this trip way back … Continue reading SWCP 2012
Ok, maybe the title is a bit dramatic. It wasn't anything like a complete failure, unless you only measure it against the original plan to walk as far as Falmouth over 7 days rather than to Par over 4. Indeed, the irony was that in some ways this trip was the best of the 5 … Continue reading SCWP 2012: Post Mortem
I flew along today. The walking was, for the SWCP, easy; a certain amount of fitness had kicked in; and I had a reason to get it done. Day 4: Tuesday 22 May I lingered over breakfast talking to Tim, the proprietor of The Well House, partly because I was the only guest, but also … Continue reading SWCP 2012: One under Par
Every year there's always one day more than the others when I become aware of the place names. Maybe the toilet humour from yesterday put me in the mood. That said it was also about the simple joy of putting one foot in front of the other on a day of perfect weather and perfect … Continue reading SWCP 2012: A day of silly names and perfect views
I'm not deliberately setting out to offend anyone with this post, but if I do then I guess that's a bonus. Every so often you find yourself doing a walk where a theme emerges and try as you might, it persists. Today was just such a day. Day 2: Sunday 20 May. Crafthole to Looe … Continue reading SWCP 2012: Toilet humour
Today the Olympic torch arrived in Plymouth and I left town. Not that I am trying to avoid it, but I do have a long distance path to walk... Day 1: Saturday 19 May - Plymouth to Crafthole Poppy's Guest House turned out to be ok - at least at a price of £50 for … Continue reading SWCP 2012 – Escaping the Torch
Day 0 It's all been a bit weird. I finished most of the planning for this trip way back in early March, making all the accommodation bookings and sorting the train tickets. And then stuck it all in a drawer for 2 months... Planning the annual SWCP segment keeps me busy during the cold and … Continue reading SWCP 2012 – All wound up
A trip with the express purpose of having my first wild camp. I chose an area I'd visited before, with reasonable options for a bail out if needed, but which also gave the opportunity to revisit places I'd not been for a while, some favourite places and to mop up some fells missing from my … Continue reading My First Wildcamp
Monica is in the garage, sprawling languidly over a selection of discarded furniture and old boxes, as she dries out from the trip. It was sods law that having been dry as a bone both nights up high, that she should be sopping wet on the morning I travel home. I lay in my sleeping … Continue reading My first wild camp – Part 4: Job Done
I woke (yes actually woke, thereby signifying that I'd actually slept!) early and stuck my head out the door to see if there was any sort of sunrise going on. Not much happening of interest, so I had a lie in. Sleep had come courtesy of no musical wind, a better set of nocturnal sartorial … Continue reading My first wild camp – Part 3: Drawing the Line
All night the wind gusted around the tent, setting off metallic twangs as the crossing poles resonated. I lay shivering in my sleeping bag, barely dozing for much of the seemingly endless night, willing the dawn to come. Yes it really was that cold. So cold that the slightest movement brought me into contact with … Continue reading My first wild camp – Part 2: Tired, Cold and Hungry
Quite literally, in fact... It was a struggle to get everything in my new Golite Jam, but I really wanted to avoid going up a rucksack size to my Lowe Alpine Khumbu 65:80 for what is a relatively short trip. So the Jam really was jam packed and bulging. I was also pushing the boundaries … Continue reading My first wild camp – Part 1: Jam Packed