The entire path runs for over 600 miles, starting in Minehead, North Devon and ending in Poole in Dorset. As a pre-cursor and warm up for my Dartmoor walk I thought I'd do a section to see what it is like. Tough is an understatement! It does, however, seem to be very well waymarked. certainly in this part.
Heading out of Lynmouth, the path starts as it means to go on with a very steep ascent through woods but it soon opens up onto a good well made path with good views both forward and behind of many inlets and points. Soon enough I arrived at the Valley of the Rocks which is a small rocky hill surrounded by boulders. The path skirts this and heads down towards Lee Abbey and onto a tarmac road for a section. All descents are soon met with a similar ascent out of the various valleys, making going tough but as there are no great heights here, the ascent is relatively short lived.
Continuing along, the story is the same, some flat sections followed by a descent to a valley and another ascent to regain the height lost. Heddons Valley is a worthwhile beach to visit, being only slightly off the main path, but both sides are seriously steep. Approaching Combe Martin, the highest point of the walk is reached; Great Hangman, but even this is only just over 300m at the top but seems higher with the climb being very steep. At this point, Combe Martin,or at least, the inlet is visible ahead but there is still the matter of Little Hangman Hill to negotiate. From there it is downhill all the way into the town and my end point for the day.
Starting at Watersmeet, the plan was to walk along the river for a while, then cut across to the coast and follow the Coast Path into Lynmouth. Watersmeet is the confluence of the East Lyn River and Hoar Oak Water. Following a river is easy, unless, like me, your mind is on other things and you set off down the wrong river! Absorbed in my own world and keeping an eye on the dog I walked along, not a care in the world until that is, I came to a road. This was unexpected. Checking the map, there was no road marked. Checking my position revealed that I was heading at about 90 degrees to the direction I should have been going! I could either walk back, or take a small lane and meet the actual river later on. I chose the latter and actually enjoyed the walk, passing by the very nice St Brendans Church. Soon enough I came into a small hamlet and crossed the river bridge to join the path I should have been on.
This was followed through Brandon on a good path and eventually up to the A39. We encountered a herd of Exmoor Ponies on the way which of course freaked the dog out, but the horses seemed to be in a good mood and moved over for us rather than the other way around which was nice. The climb up to the road looked horrifying with a car park visible on the skyline looking like it was in the heavens. In reality it wasn't a bad climb and I was soon crossing the road to join the path on the other side. The path on the maps showed it descending but somehow I must have missed it and found myself on a very steep descent. Figuring I might as well drop to the stream and up the short climb the other side where I could join another path that would bring me to the Coast Path, I continued on. The descent was steep and slippery, requiring the use of trees as catchers. At the bottom I quickly realised that it would be an uncomfortable ascent as it was through thick, brambles and gorse bushes. Thankfully short lived but still, they left their mark on my legs!
Back on a reasonable track I made good progress down to join the Coast Path and once comfortably on it, I stopped for lunch. The Coast path here passes through woodland on a good, but thin track to finally emerge onto a hillside about 2-3 miles from Lynmouth which by now is just in sight. One final climb and it is mostly steadily downhill to the town, emerging on the far end of the beach. My meeting point was at the other end and with two minutes to spare on the 4pm meeting time, we reached the end.
