Crackington Haven to Tintagel

The plan

A challenging first day of hiking, 12.05 miles\1,164m ascent\average grade 12%\4:37 hours from The Coombe Barton Inn to Bosayne Guest House. Lots of ups and downs over headlands. The second longest day we’ll do!

Reality

What a long hard day! On the upside, spectacular weather. Couldn’t get any lovelier: sunny, 60s, and breezy but not windy. And that’s pretty much the forecast for the next 10 days, except for a little pop of heat a week from now.

We had a nice breakfast at The Coombe Barton Inn, cementing an already good experience staying there. We set off at 9:20am and headed immediately up hill. There was only one other time today that we were at sea level again.

The first major uphill was visible for a long time before we reached it…thank goodness for switchbacks!

Couple of encounters with livestock…the first some spectacular long horn…er….sheep? goats? Not sure. But I would not want to tangle with those horns. They completely ignored us, luckily.

We then came across our first cluster of cattle. We encountered quite a few on the Coast to Coast and learned to stride ahead confidently with poles above our heads, which was enough of a show of force for the cows to shuffle away. The cattle up the ante here on the South West Coast Path, though. On one side of the cattle is a precipitous plunge…would not want to get trapped on the cliff-side of the herd!

More downhills, followed inevitably by more uphills. Many consisted of flights of steps, and many of those steps are sized far more for Dave than for me. Some steps reach to my knees! Very hard work, both up and down.

Finally, an oasis! At the 7 mile mark, Boscastle suddenly comes into view. Charming port, jigsaw-ready!

We stopped at The Riverside and ate on their stunning deck, across a footbridge over the small river. I (to the staff’s bemusement) ordered cornish icecream with a scoop of clotted cream. It was a great way to cut the sweetness a bit.

Then onward. Overall it was easier grade for the last 5 miles, but there were still one or two big downhills, including a drop down into the aptly-named Rocky Valley.

Then we start to see the light at the end of the tunnel–Tintagel in the distance. I’ve got to be honest–I was hurting by this point! Weary, and sore.

At Bosayne Guest House, tea and cookies were served–so needed!

For dinner, we walkedd (!!!! 0.3 miles each way) to King Arthur’s Arms, for an adequate but not terribly memorable meal. Look at this amazing old post office just across the road…

Then back to Bosayne. Hoping for a solid night of sleep and a painless leg in the morning!

This entry was posted in South West Coast Path Cornwall