Flat is not always easy

Today's route was said to be 12 1/2 miles, but it was just shy of 16. Flat. It was very flat, It looked like this for almost the entire way:



(Sort of like the Farmington Canal, don't you think?)

until at the end, when I got off to take an alternative route, where it looked like this:




a vast improvement. The difficulty was the surface, tarmac all the way, and that is a killer.

First feature of interest was a military training camp. Visitors not allowed:




Right near by, oddly enough, was a posh hotel, where our Fuzz would be welcomed in high style:




Oh, Fuzz, you must come before you go to kitty cat eternity!

The walk was around an estuary. It is surprising that even with industrial invasion and structures causing direct disturbance to the habitat:




that so much bird life can thrive. Not only that, but a LARGE area of grass, which is coarse, thick and a little salty (so said the instructive sign) is excellent food for sheep whose (future) chops are prized for their distinctive taste due to this privileged diet:


Ahhh, she must have been a beauty in her day:



There is a super gourmet grocery in Instow, John's it is called, where I went to get some supplies. There was one package of walnuts left on the shelf, so I snagged it, not having great expectations because I have already bought and tossed about four bags, all the nuts being rancid, but these, it turned out are excellent. I looked on the package to see the country of origin. Would you believe China?

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Location:Instow

An easy day!

It really was, and gorgeous, too! Just one significant climb. Longish, though, at just under 17 miles. There was a surprising variety of scenery, from beach:




along which it was lovely to walk barefoot.

To vast open fields:




through which one does wear boots.

To an estuary:



along which one walks on a raised path.

And much else not photographed.

It was a gorgeous day, which you could probably ascertain from the cloudless sky (see just above). In fact, it was the first hot day. Hot and sunny enough to reapply sunscreen a couple of times.

Surfers, were out early:




And a triathlon was in progress. It was kind of funny to see a big, blow-up Finish Line sign and hear Beach Boys music blaring at 8:00 a.m. A bit later, I had to share the path with runners:



I called out, "Good luck," now and then to which some runners grunted, some said, "Good morning," or "I need it," or some such, but can you imagine my surprise when one guy said, "Thanks, Vicki!" What? Then I remembered that yesterday, as I was headed up a narrow road, an RV, which occupied the entire width of the road was coming the other way. Just as I was trying to figure out what to do, because there was no room to move to the side, the RV stopped, one guy got out, opened a gate, and the other guy turned into a driveway. The guy-who-got-out and I started to chat, and he invited me to see the house that he and his partner(?) were building because it had a great view, especially from the soon to be Bar-B-Q pit. Anyhow, it turned out that the driver guy was participating in the event this morning! How do you like that!

Inter alia, I was very happy to finally get a shot of a bunny, because they do tend to skitter away quickly:




Let's call him Peter!

A flock of black sheep look not ALL that different from the surfers:




On second thought, they do look pretty different. I thought they were otters or some sea creature, what with their basking on the point and all, but, no, they were sheep.

I did not see the bull:





But he must be very bullish because the field was full of his ladies and their young. Here is a pair who seem not to be on speaking terms at the moment:





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Location:Braunton

The 15 mile challenge

Can't say for sure that the stage from Combe Martin to Woolacombe is 15 miles (the book says 14.75 or something) because I forget to reset the GPS after a stop, but it felt like 25. Yesterday's walk is reputed to be one of the toughest on the path, but compared to today's, it seemed almost modest! I don't think I ever did so much upping and downing and so many stairs for such a distance. It took from 7:00 a.m. to about 3:00 with maybe a half hour stopping altogether. Much dramatic scenery, though.

Leaving Combe Martin, the water looked silver:




I just love this shade of blue:



Sometimes it is easy to miss a directional sign:



View from the bench where I stopped for lunch:



Others lunching with a friend:



or alone:




or for the third or fourth time, perhaps:



These were fire-engine red, but look more purply in this picture and maybe even prettier:



Despite the disconcerting sign, you go up anyway:



As elegant as was last night's lodging, so is tonight's, shall we say, casual. Meet Roger, the host:



Did you notice that he is not wearing shoes? He let me use the kitchen, though, to make a salmon sandwich, which was very nice of him.

Tomorrow's walk is longer than today's, but it supposedly has some stretches classified as "easy," but after today's classifications of "moderate" (?) and "strenuous" (here! here!) I am dubious!

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Location:Woolacombe

Lynmouth and Combe Martin

What a wonderful time I had with Ruth and Paul, dear walking friends from many walks ago!



We met in Lynmouth, a town that survives on fudge shops and tea rooms. The Big Town, where there is a bit of a grocery store and a pharmacy, is Lynton to which you can ascend by means of a funicular that works on a weight system. When one car goes up the other car comes down. The trip takes about two minutes. Fun! Dinner at The Sunrise Hotel, the hot spot in town, where the waiter kept addressing me as Madam, pronounced in the French style!

Next morning taxied to Simonsbath, whence we walked about 13 miles back to Lynmouth. I would have been a wreck to have walked this on my own because a couple of significant stretches are over the moor (which makes sense, since the walk is the last leg of the Two Moors Way), so, no path. And what sinage there was was quite poor. There were a couple of swollen streams to cross, too. Both Ruth and Paul are good navigators, but Paul has an Ordnance Survey+quasi GPS on a Tablet, which fits into a leg pocket of this pants. Very impressive and useful. Needless to say, we did not get lost.

After tea at Watersmeet National Trust Tea House, we went on to other explorations, namely a Ravine whose water is used to generate hydroelectric power. On the way up we saw this:




Guess what it is.

Nearby was a baby redwood, one of two in the park:




To go in or not to go in?



Just so you know that there was lots of water rushing down and very beautiful looking it was:




After good bye, and the hint of the possibility of a plan for Ruth to meet me at the end of the walk—I do hope she will be able to—(Paul is signed up for a 10K), they left to visit family and I set out for Combe Martin. But here you must know that these posts are possible because with great patience and skill, Paul figured out how to get photos to upload. I am so happy!!

The walk was tough but gorgeous, with a surprising variety of scenery and weather! Hot and humid for five minutes, then blustery and cold, then spitting rain. On with the gear and off with the gear. That sort of thing really slows a body down!

This name must have a backstory:




Could it be this?




Clouds looking as if they are coming up from the earth, but a few minutes after admiring them, freezing rain fell, so apparently they originated in their usual place:



The summit of the Great Hangman duly noted:



No comment:



Tonight I have the treat of staying at a super nice B and B, Blair Inn. The couple who run it are extraordinarily generous and kind, the room, the whole place, in fact, is comfortable and very pleasant, and Rachel, the wife of the pair is a five star cook, so dinner was delicious. Then Nick, the husband of the duo, supplied me with maps and copied directions for my walking stage tomorrow, after my daily packet vanished. (Don't ask.)

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Location:Combe Martin

First official stage

A gorgeous first stage in every respect. After a couple of miles, there was a choice, the Official Path or




which was an hour and a half to two hours longer than the Official Path. I started down the O.P., but then thought, "It is such a beautiful day and I am not in a hurry, and this path seems a bit dull," so I turned around and headed towards the R.A. Was I ever glad I made that choice! It was wild and magnificent, and not a soul around!

Arrived at destination At 2:00, the earliest check-in time, and was welcomed by this mom and her baby. Note that Mom has red nail polish:




There is bric-a brac of every sort you can imagine all around and tons of books, stuffed chairs and sofas, paintings, you name it, but it works (except for the horrible looped music that reminds you of those shops, where, when you walk in the door, everything smells of incense).

His eyes were not in good shape, but the rest, not so bad, a classic good looker (in the style of David)?




Loved this plant stand:




and the poor, sad, black sheep:




View from the top of the stairs:


Relics from a good hunt, perhaps!

Tomorrow meet Ruth and Paul Simms, wonderful friends who are driving five hours to Lynmouth so that we can walk the last stage of the Two Moors Way together. Looking forward very much to this rendez-vous.

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Location:Porlock Weir

Transition Day

Off to Dunster and its castle today, by a seaside route there and a lovely inland route back. This was for fun and to test the gear, organization, things like that. A getting sorted day, you might say. I'm worried that the boots are a bit tight after their having been resoled, but maybe it was just the sightseeing. Boots are made for walking not touring castles.

On the way, some lady friends wanted a visit, and followed as far as their confines would allow:





Happiest of daisies, blowing in the wind, reaching for the sea and sky:




The castle visit at Dunster was five star! Knowledgeable, engaging volunteers in every room, and you were invited to sit in the chairs and read, if you liked, play billiards, make yourself at home, in other words. Ah, it should be noted that this comfort is reproduced from the late 19th century, not from the castle's medieval origins.

I was beyond excited to see an explanation for the oubliette, as this is one of my favorite OED words of the day, and perhaps the best loan word ever! The explanation below differs from the dictionary one in that there it was described as a dungeon whose entry was only from the top. Why people would go to so much trouble to build such a structure in which to put people to languish and die, is a bit puzzling when they could much more easily toss them into a pit in the yard, cover them over with dirt and be done with it.





Meantime, upstairs, the table is set, impeccably, for dinner. Sadly, the present day visitor is not invited to dine, though the menu, featuring poached salmon—and not the farmed variety, you can be sure—was the main course.





Indeed:




Shortly after the introduction of indoor plumbing and heating, or what one might call the comforts we would hate to do without, one could take a jolly good soak in this tub:





View at lunch. Big leaves under the bridge at the mill:




One of the highlights of the day was a guided tour of the victorian kitchens. All I can say is neither Downton Abbey nor Upstairs Downstairs comes close to portraying the harsh conditions of working "below stairs.". For one thing, those scenes could never have been shot in the actual light conditions of those areas. It was very dark!

I did learn, though, that the expression "upper crust" may come from the fact that when baking bread, the bottom burned, so it would be cut off to be a portion of the servants' fare, while the part with the nice, brown, upper crust went to the upstairs residents.


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Location:Minehead

At Basecamp

A day of trains. First from London to Taunton, then a bus to Bishop's Lydeard, and finally the steam train, with its genuine whooo-whooo steam train whistle, to Minehead. All this worked so easily. It still amazes me how easy it is here to use public transportation, and how matter of fact it is to take a bus to do errands rather than hopping into a car.






Why, this was my very brand (before the flood), and I not knowing that they prevented sore throats!

This might work If it is a very little fire.....




On the way to the hotel, where I have a very nice room, thanks to a complementary upgrade by those wonderful Encounter Walking Holiday people, is the sculpture that marks the beginning or end of the walk. It is impressive, but I kind of don't get it, since it celebrates the hands instead of the feet that actually do the walking, unless it is about reading the map. Maybe there is a deeper (hidden) meaning. In any case it is exciting to actually see it for real:




Walked a bit about town, bought supplies, among which were strawberries, which are very very delicious, stopped in at a tea room for leek and potato soup, hot and also very delicious, and finally realized that I am tired!

It takes time to repack the suitcase and backpack, going from "I'd better take those 4.7 pounds of paperwork on the plane," to "OK that can stay in the suitcase now, but not the poncho." By the way, for anyone who needs to charge lots of devices on the road, know that the travel power strip with four USB ports and one regular port is super great!

Tomorrow, a visit to Dunster to see its famed castle.

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Location:Minehead

we regret to inform you

Blog Press seems not to want to upload photos. I'll try again tomorrow. In the meantime, if anyone knows how to solve this problem, would s/he please tell me?

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Location:Minehead

South West Coast National Trail

So First I could not get The keyboard out of French. Finally figured that out and it went info Spanish, now  it is in some from of terrible English unless it is still in Spanish only you can't tell when you are using the external keyboard. Switch to iPad keyboard is painful in this one star app. You type and it sputters and does all manner of annoying things. Especially bad is its autocorrect feature, the designer of which spoke a language known only to itself, apparently. Alex installed blogsy but I can't figure it out. It has an HTML side and a write side, which do entirely different things, and I am not prepared to fight with that.

So just a short, experimental entry to see what the crash factor is like here in England, which has nothing to do with England, or even Brexit, of course 'cause they have very good wi-fi here along with a superabundance of carbohydrates. There are some little grocery stores, well Seven Eleven kind of stores, near the hotel....this is London, by the way...where they do sell a few fruits but not one as a single vegetable. One little store is called a super store; it has a branch about two blocks away. This store and its cousin are tiny and sell mostly suitcases.

The day was great even though the hotel would not let me check in early. It was great because I, having discovered the perfect how to sleep on the airplane potion, slept the whole way over. Here is what you do. You take half an Ambien (for me that would be 2 1/2 mg.) and a half a Valium (another 2 1/2 mg.) and you are sound asleep until landing.

The phone was a pain to take care of, and I bought a package I am sure I don't need, but this way I can use data to my heart's content for the duration. Besides, the walk to the EE store was quite nice.

Afternoon spent at the Victoria and Albert museum. Gorgeous place they got there! You walk in and are utterly wowed by the sculpture corridor. Two special exhibits: Botticelli revisited, and an exhibit on underwear. Some of the modern Botticelli interpretations were interesting, but unless weird, nothing desperately memorable. The underwear exhibit showed lots of corsets. Other than being grateful that corsets are no longer à la mode, that exhibit, too was somewhat disappointing. Ok so there was that Swarovski bejeweled bikini and bra that was to be worn under a sheer over garment. Not quite sure what the event for that would be. Maybe having a few friends over?

I am waiting for a photo to move over from the iPhone, but it isn't being picked up, and I didn't take my camera with me today, so no photo of birds eating my carrot salad in the V and A courtyard. It was clear that they quite enjoyed the cilantro in it.

Before heading off to Minehead mañana, I have to say that part of the fun of this adventure has come from working with Encounter Walking Holidays. From my first inquiries back in October through all the planning, to the final details, they have been so accommodating and helpful, and efficient, and ever so personable. A public thank you, Damon, if you are reading this.

This is it for a photoless test blog, so that I can see if I can get the external keyboard to function properly.





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