The Southwest Coast Path, Cornwall, England, 2015 by Linden B. (Lindy) Sisk

Day 6 - Crackington Haven to Tintagel

Please remember that each picture is a link to a bigger version!

Alex was having a problem with a bruise on her foot, and so it was just Tristan and I headed down the path in the early morning light, as we were split into two groups for the night - the others were closer to our destination. We saw them a couple of times ahead of us, but John, Sally, Ian, and Wilf walk faster than we do, so we didn't expect to catch up with them. We did actually pass them, when they stopped for lunch at a farm shop and cafe, but we didn't know they were there, so on we went.

Sally commented at dinner that in places we had hiked before, like Torres del Paine in Chile, that the sights we saw in some places were fantastic, but the trail was often less interesting. Not here - every time you go around a corner, or top a climb, the views are fantastic! Probably by now, everyone is getting bored with pictures of the gorgeous coast, but we aren't. I'll try to provide interesting details of our walk in the pictures.

There was a lot of vertical today, around a vertical mile, 5400 feet, and as I have found in the past, I cannot stay with Tristan on the climbs. He just goes and goes and goes - which is why we call him the Energizer Bunny. But my natural pace is faster than his, and my stride is longer, because I'm taller, so I let him go on the climbs, and catch up with him in the flat. Of course, that was made more difficult by my frequent stops to take photographs.

I had some slight pain in my left knee yesterday, caused by the steep descents. Today, I went downhill more slowly and carefully, making sure my knees were bent when my weight came on the downhill leg, and that entirely prevented the problem with my knee. So, I just have to make those descents more carefully.

We stopped in a tea room by the pretty harbour in either Forrabury or Boscastle, depending on how you interpret the map, for lunch. It's a beautiful place, and there were lots of people on vacation there, but we got served expeditiously, and moved on. We arrived in Tintagel at about 3:15 PM, having averaged about two miles per hour for the whole trip, which, given the vertical distance, I think is excellent.

After the usual pint of beer to rehydrate, I walked down to Tintagel Castle, built by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, somewhere in the 13th century. It is thought by some that he built it because it was supposedly the place where King Arthur was conceived. It is now just ruins, but in a beautiful spot by the sea. It is now occupied by goats, who don't pay much attention to the tourists.

We had an excellent dinner in the hotel, and headed off to bed.

Beautiful slate wall

Tea room, clearly formerly a chapel.

Tintagel Castle ruins

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