Day 10 - Hartland Quay (well Stoke) to Bude (well Upton) - 20m - 7:44m - Groundhog Day

Well, I knew this blog would be difficult to write. I thought that some days would be boring and some days I wouldn't want to write it. Today is a different problem - yes, it has been probably the most difficult hiking day I have ever had. I am tired in a way I didn't know existed - but happy at the same time. The problem is...

There was so much fantastic scenery today, it would be impossible to put it all here...

The day was amazing with the sunshine...

And we're out early with the views immediately being spectacular....

But today was about going up...

Seeing what is ahead or behind you...

And then going down again, on very steep inclines / declines...

And then seeing what is there...

More than 10 times...

But, as, dear reader, this is my diary of the path...

And perhaps I will indulge with too many photos...

It is pretty spectacular...

And, I hope, not boring at all...

And so we go up...

And we go down...

And the views provide accordingly...

Until we reach various diversions in the relentless undulation... this is the hut of Ronald Duncan who lived from 1914 to 1982...

This was his view... he is described as a "poet, playwright, journalist, farmer, lover" - probably not a bad legacy...

More gratuitous scenery shots...

And the path is unrelenting...

And at the top are beautiful things...

Someone is loving it...

Places to go, people to see...

In the book "500 Mile Walkies", Mark Wallington says he hates these purple flowers by the end of this stretch... in September there are only a few left so they actually are a pleasant addition...

Unbelievably steep cliffs here. Thankfully, someone has put a rope, but I am not sure it would do the trick! We won't be trying it but I felt a bit dizzy here...

Slight diversion to Rectory Farm Tea Rooms...

And onto "Striding Edge-on-sea" which affords fantastic views after vertigo....

Apparently, and it is no surprise, the Rocks along this coast were used by many wreckers and smugglers to lure ships onto them where they would be looted and pillaged. The graveyards around here are littered with stones of those anonymous dead, if they were lucky enough to be pulled out of the water. Until a guy called Rev Robert Hawker came along in 1834 to spoil the party and put the rule of the law, but mainly the church into people. He had a famous hut on the cliffs here, where he used to "meditate, pray and smoke". But also to warn ships not to take the bait. It is the smallest National Trust property today...