Day 1: A long walk home

Start: Minehead

End: Portlock

Total miles: 10

Yesterday I left my home in Poole and embarked on my journey to Minehead, where I will begin my South West Coast path adventure. All going to plan, the trail will take me around the South West Peninsula, through Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and Dorset and eventually back to Poole in around 45 days. It’s essentially a very long walk home. I have left my worldly obligations behind, packed everything I need to survive and I’m ready to let that adventurous sprit loose across the hills of the South West.

Leaving the B&B and heading to the starting waymark makes me realise that all my planning is finally becoming a reality and it prompts that wonderful feeling I get before any adventure. That mix of excitement for new experiences, nervous anticipation for new challenges and curiosity for the new places I’ll discover. Whenever I feel like this, I know good days are coming. The beginning of the trail is marked with a large sculpture, this is where I’ll begin my 630 mile walk home.

The path quickly began to ascend out of Minehead, following a steep wooded stretch. The occasional gaps in the trees revealed lovely views across the Bristol Channel and over to the Welsh coastline. Following this, the path ascended further up a series of switch backs, each one steeper than the last. Eventually the route opened up to reveal a winding path over Exmoor moorland, showing me how high I had climbed above sea level. The air feels fresh and clean and I look around and there’s nothing but the sea, the Exmoor hills and the winding path ahead of me. This is what I’ve been waiting for. I’m outside and the chaos of life has settled. This is my life for the next 6 weeks and I couldn’t be happier with the concept. My daily obligation is simply to get a bit closer to Poole, to wander my way anti-clockwise around the coast and make some memories as I go. I know there will be tough days, days when I crave the comforts from home and days when I don’t want to keep going. I’ll tackle those when they inevitably arrive but right now, I choose be optimistic and grateful for the opportunity of this adventure. 

I managed to gain as faster pace as the path flattened. I cautiously crept past a group of cows, but they were not interested in me. By late morning the weather deteriorated, with wind speed increasing and heavy persistent rain. I pushed on, with the moorland terrain offering little to no shelter. After a tiring descent I arrived at Bossington and finished the days walk into Portlock with a fellow SWCP solo hiker. It was nice to compare the reasons for being here and my overall plan with him. He pushed on as I retired to a cafe to have a well earned cup of tea. I'll head back out to go to my campsite soon once the rain calms down.

I know the days will get longer and the hills will get steeper, but I'm happy with how this first day has shaped up. I'll just take it one county, one day, one mile at a time.