Josie Travels

Recommended route: Woolacombe to Braunton – 15 miles
My route: Mortehoe to Instow – 16 miles, plus a long bus ride between Saunton and Instow because I didn’t want to die.

I still have nightmares about this section. It was hell. Literally, the temperature was hotter than the pit of Mount Doom. There was a weather warning telling people to stay indoors. What was I doing? Hiking with a heavy backpack, no food and no water, so dehydrated that I had stopped sweating, and just about ready to throw myself off a cliff, except they weren’t high enough to end my suffering.

It started so well… I loved the walk around Morte Point, which is supposed to be part of yesterdays route. I saw a seal, and some birds that I told myself were puffins but absolutely were not because I was bitter about missing my chance to visit Lundy Island to see them in real life.

When I reached Woolacombe it was absolutely heaving with bloody emmets, and I grabbed what food and blister packs I could find before heading straight out. But of course, I forgot to fill up my water.

Woolacome beach is about 1000 miles long which is great if you want to find a quiet section of the beach, but not if you have to walk across the sand dunes along the entire length in a heatwave with no water. I was having a bad time to say the least. When I reached Croyde beach I didn’t have a drop of energy spare to wander off the path in search of a bar or cafe to water me, so I trudged across the beach in a daze wondering how long until I died.

My plan was to reach Braunton, and then take a bus to Instow because it’s a very dull section of the coast path walking along the road on tarmac and I had no desire to do that in a heatwave. I didn’t even make it to Braunton, I stopped at the first bus stop I found and waited in the blistering sun for an hour until a bus, any bus, arrived to take me away from that hell.

When I eventually made it to Instow, I set up camp and spent the afternoon drinking water and tending to my ruined feet. And they really were ruined at this point… after so many days walking in sweaty, dusty socks and sandles, still not able to fit into my boots, my blisters had started to become infected and I was forced to head home for a few days so I didn’t end up ripping my toenails off like Cheryl Strayed in Wild.

You can see the full itinerary here.

If you would like to see more you can view the full album here.

You can also follow the journey on Instagram!