Walk 19: Crantock to home (repeated)
This week marked my first attempt at TWO walks, bringing in my total mileage to just over 22 miles. After covering almost an 11-mile distance on Wednesday before my treadmill packed in, I decided to head out straight after work on Friday with my two dogs to enjoy the gorgeous sunny weather.
Friday is early finish day when I leave work at 3.30pm rather than 4pm. Taking full advantage of this, I rushed home to change and pack and my husband dropped me off in Crantock by 5pm.
Again, it would have been lovely to head further out to a part of the coast I have not yet walked but this only highlights the difficult logistics of the challenge that I didn't fully think through before beginning (typical me). Walking alone would have meant far more planning, relying on my husband and children to give up their evening to run around and wait potentially hours for me - it just wasn't viable on a Friday evening. Completing this familiar walk alone meant I was close to home in case anything went wrong and I knew exactly where I was heading.
Being out in the sun after a week at work felt amazing and, although it would have been easier and faster without the dogs tripping me up (and me stepping on their poor paws), I can't imagine doing it without them. Plus, they love it! We quickly skirted Crantock and headed out towards Pollyjoke and onto my favourite stretch - a grassy path towards Holywell Bay where we saw a pair of choughs right in our path.
A slight wrong turn at Holywell Bay clocked up a few extra metres, which would come in handy later. By this time, the weather had clouded over which I was quite glad of. As we headed from Holywell towards Perranporth, we made a quick stop as my tummy was rumbling loudly and then trekked on past the old Penhale base and solitary house - very creepy when you're walking alone. I definitely got Wuthering Heights and Woman in Black vibes.
As we rounded the headland which overlooks Perran, things began to take a turn. I was still feeling pretty positive, especially when my husband rang to check on my progress and it was only 7pm. Ignoring the fact that my Strava was actually saying I was only half way through the distance I needed to cover (WHAT???), I told him I would probably be another hour...
An hour later and I still hadn't crossed the beach.
I do not know where that hour went. All I do know is that I have jogged across Perranporth beach and back countless times and it always takes me about 1 hour (there and back). True, I was now walking, but both the wet and dry sand was incredibly sinky and I made the mistake of taking my shoes off (because I always walk barefoot on the beach) which was really hard on my ankles. To make matters worse, the tide was in and so I had to head up the zigzag and over the clifftops. By the time I hit the village, my husband was waiting to pick me up and I still had 5K to do.
I knew I needed to walk further. I just didn't realise it would take me so long. Thankfully, my husband took the dogs home in the car, leaving me to walk home through the very overgrown public footpaths. When I got back, I still had over a kilometre to do and it was 9pm, four hours after I set off. I paced around the garden, went in for a cold shower and had my favourite dinner - the reward? The whole rest of the weekend to relax.
