Week 3 Day 3 - Widemouth to Crackington Haven

After the hot weather of the last few days we wake in the night to a thunderstorm. It sounds as though the tent will be torn apart by the force of the rain. In the morning we discover that not a drop of water entered the tent - good old Outwell.

We eat a relaxed breakfast with boiled eggs and toast before heading off to Widemouth for today's short section to Crackington Haven. We park at 0930, pay £5.80 for 24 hours' parking and head south under low cloud and occasional mist.


We cross the valley at Millook and along past Dizzard Point where we come across a bench stating 500 miles to go to Poole, 132 miles completed from Minehead.

By now it has started to rain, not heavily but it is persistent. Soon after we cross a deep steep-sided valley and are overtaken by a single walker on his way from Minehead to Poole camping as he goes. He is into Day 9 of his trek, we are on Day 13 of ours!

The deep valley at Cleave between Castle Point and Pencannow Point is spectacular in its isolation. It lacks any development and is covered in a myriad of wild flowers, including some wild miniature roses that have obviously bloomed in the recent good weather.

We reach Crackington Haven as the rain stops and the warm sun starts to shine. We stop in The Haven Cafe for a welcome pasty and a drink before catching the bus back to Widemouth and back to camp (via Sainsburys in Bude) to read the Sunday paper and to relax for the remains of the day.


Distance completed today: 7.2 miles
Total distance completed: 134.6 miles (21.4%)