D123: GORRAN HAVEN to PORTSCATHO
Wednesday 24th April 2024
Today miles: 14.6 Total miles: 2051.0
Minutes after leaving my campsite I reached Dodman Point. There’s an old fort ruin, an Ordnance Survey trig point and a pretty decent viewpoint. The skies were blue and cloudless. As I walked along, slightly further inland I spotted three small tents pitched close to the coastline. I’ve not yet had the courage to wild camp in Cornwall but I’m aware that lots of other people do. Over the following few miles I walked by several small bays. There wasn’t any facilities to speak of but most of them had an accessible public toilet block, where I was able to refill my water bottle each time. It was a warm day and I needed to drink plenty of water to avoid becoming dehydrated.
Eventually I reached a small town, Portloe which has a small convenience store. There wasn’t a huge selection and the prices were excessive however I don’t really have much choice. The next option for food is more than ten miles away but I’m hungry now and can’t wait another five hours. I picked up a can of fizzy pop and a huge Steak pastie and I didn’t get very much change from a tenner.
Having left Portloe behind I could clearly see the outline of Gull Rock in the far distance. I didn’t get too much further along the coast before the warm smell of the pastie was too much to resist. I sat down, made myself a coffee and sat for an hour enjoying the warm sunshine on my face. Although I was feeling hungry I only managed to consume half of the well stocked steak delicacy. Gull Rock soon came into full view, I stared at it continuously half expecting it to rear up and roar like some prehistoric reptile. A little later I took another short breather at the corner of Nare Head, not for any particular reason, just to admire the views. Further along the coast I removed my sweaty socks/shoes and walked the quick kilometre along first Carne and then Pendower Beach. After a short climb I reached the top of the cliffs once again and continued along the footpath towards Portscatho. Half an hour later I surprisingly came across a small accessible lookout station at Pednvadan Point. It’s officially called NCI Portscatho and it’s manned during the summer months, I had a quick look around inside, I could see my final destination for today and it doesn’t look to be far away.
I arrived in Portscatho soon after leaving the lookout station and quickly found a nice shop with a good variety of foodstuff. Having checked my map earlier I’m not sure what facilities I’ll encounter before reaching Truro in two days time. I grabbed enough food for a couple of days adding an additional two pounds of weight to my pack. Thankfully I’ve got less than a quarter of a mile to walk before reaching my campsite.
Werewolfandflump UK Coast Path 