Josie Travels

Recommended route: Minehead to Porlock Weir – 8.9 miles
My route: Minehead to Porlock – 7.9 miles

If I could go back in time to the beggining of summer and talk to myself on the day I set off on this hike… I would slap myself in the face and make me go back home. But I can’t, so here we go.

By the time I left my house in Penryn – 150 miles from the starting point of the hike – I was running late. I missed my first train to Truro, caught my second train to some random village in the middle of Devon, and missed my connecting train to the next stop. With well over an hours delay, I didn’t make it to Minehead until gone 4pm. Not an ideal time to start a hike, even in the summer.

As I first started walking along the seafront, white tents of Butlins in the distance reminding me of beinge drinking tequila as a teenager, I felt pretty good. I stopped by the sign marking the starting point of this epic journey and took the obligatory selfie (not shown because I look like a clown).

As soon as I entered the woods and started the climb to the top of Selworthy Beacon, I wanted to end it right there and then. I was out of shape, out of breath, and already out of water. That pretty much sums up the rest of the entire coast path.

Once I reached the top and it flattened out I forgot all about my struggles and started to really enjoy myself. I met some cows and horses, saw Wales across the Bristol Channel, and got a nice view of Porlock Vale before descending down a violently steep hill to the super picturesque village of Bossington.

By this point it was 8pm, I was dehydrated and starving, everything was closed, and I still had a mile to go until I reached my first campsite, Sparkhayes. The last mile was torture, but when I arrived I rehydrated, set up my tent, had a shower, cooked and ate dinner, washed up, (whoever thinks camping is relaxing can piss right off), and finally got to lie down as the sun was setting.

My body hurt, but my head and my heart were happy.

You can see the full itinerary here.

If you want to see more photos, you can view the full album here.

You can also follow the journey on Instagram!