2015 Walking Trip in Devon, Great Malvern, and The Shropshire Hills: First Day of Hiking the South Devon Coast, May 10

He said:

The waiting was over; we had to do a real hike today not a stroll around town. The hike was a real, on the edge of a cliff, blown by the sea wind, go up and go down, point A to point B hike. It was only 8.5 miles long, but it felt like more. The weather was cool, the wind was strong, and the sky was gray. The photos below show that, and some photos would have been more dramatic if it had been sunny.

Sometimes today, I wondered if coming all this way to hike was still worth it, but thinking back, many first day hikes can be like that. We saw some dramatic cliffs which are different from cliffs we had seen on previous hikes, but not that different. On the other hand, they were similar in that the natural world is observable in its fundamental state; unpolluted. In the end, we were motivated by our ability and desire to want to do this.

She Said:

A bit of a rough start this morning.

On our other walking trips, we usually walked from B+B/Inn to B+B/Inn. Since we have already done 8 long distance walks in England, we thought that maybe we had done the best ones, so we opted this year to do day hikes from 3 center bases - Dartmouth, Malvern and Shropshire.

Today was our first day of walking from Dartmouth. Our trip planning service arranged for a taxi to pick us up at our B+B and drive us to a trailhead along the Southwest Coast Path. I had not anticipated that the taxi ride to the trailhead would be winding and fast along narrow and twisty country roads/lanes.

And, of course, I have motion sickness.

So, at the trailhead, I got sick and spent the next hour laying on a bench with my head in Rick's lap.

Sigh.

I slowly rallied and we walked 8.5-9 miles along a splendid path. The fresh air worked wonders. I wouldn't say I was 100%, but close enough to walk heartily and enjoy the day. I must say, I am a trooper!

At the start of the trail was Devon's 2nd longest marshy reed bed. It was quite a sight and a bridge over it afforded great views miles up the bed. The birds and reed animals must love it.

At Hope Cove we came upon a lifeboat launching building, gifted and endowed to the area in 1877 by the Freemasons "commemorating the safe return from India of Albert Edward Prince of Wales."

There were plenty of benches along the path, even in high up, unimaginable places, so I was able to rest and regroup, as needed.

We also walked alongside some unusual slab stone walls. We had seen these on another walk in another year. The wall is comprised of large slate (I think) slabs stood up and placed side by side. They have the bit unsettling sense of a row of tombstones lining the edge of a field.

Most field gates along the path were rock-weighted, so that they were sure to close behind us and keep the sheep or cows or ponies where they were supposed to be.

Because the trail is a coast path, the day was very "same-y", meaning that we always saw beautiful ocean views, we walked up and down along similar terrain (rocky and rutty) and the wind blew like crazy the whole way. Still, it was invigorating and a real treat. This remains our favorite way to vacation.

Towards the end of our day's walk, we walked down into South Sands along a wooded path lined with pink wildflowers, bluebells and fragrant white wild garlic. We had passed and been passed most of the day by a couple of guys also walking the Coast Path, and as they passed us again at South Sands, they were singing Beatles songs and we joined in. Silly and fun. At the South Sands beach, we boarded the 10 passenger vehicle that drove us across the beach and into the water (an estuary) to meet the tiny water ferry that brought us to Salcombe and our return taxi. It was a first for us - driving into the water and being off-loaded in the bay to a boat. Cool.

At Salcombe, the car park for the ferry butts up against Normandy Way, so named to commemorate the United States Navy, where 66 US Navy ships left from this port to land in Normandy, 4th of June, 1944.

As I have been writing this, R has been downloading our pictures, but with one eye on the TV and a fascinating (to him, anyway) show about Physics.

It all just sounds like magic to me.

A gray start at Thurlestone Sand