Log No 274. Fri 4th Apr 2014 - St Just In Roseland to E Portholland, 21 miles (4174 miles walked)

I had a slight dilemma with todays route, the Roseland Peninsula has two headlands each with just the single road down.
There was no footpath round the first and on the second it was right next to the road, as I wasn't going to walk down a road just to walk back up it I would probably have have missed out these two headlands and cut across to Portscatho.

As it happens there is a small ferry between the two headlands so, in spite of me saying I won't use ferries, I was going to take this one and get to walk on more of the coastline.

I set off at 08.20 under a cloudy sky and walked down the road to St Mawes.

Walkers on the SWCP have to take the ferry from Falmouth to St Mawes then, as I'm doing, take the Place Ferry across to St Anthony to rejoin the Path.

There was already a couple of walkers at the ferry and as soon as I got there the Skipper took us across.

It felt good to be back on a footpath again and it was fairly easy going all the way to Portscatho and I got here for 12.00.

The cloud had broken up and the sun was coming out, with a bit of wind behind me it was a great walking day.

Obviously perfect for Hang Gliding, I counted 6 in the air at one time, the wind was just right for them to take off from the sloping fields above Pendower and Carne Beach.

Although it was an easy path with no great climbs it seemed to be a constant roller coaster and it was proving slow going.

With it being a well walked path there were plenty of benches along it to rest and admire the views.

The land was rolling and the coastline was all sloping, where the path was along the edge of fields it wasn't too bad but where it went through the slopes it wandered all over the places up and down and zig-zagging back on itself.

It was quite a long walk today and with no campsite I was aiming to wild camp on Dodman Point.

I got to Portloe at 15.15 and I still had 6 miles, at my current walking speed it would be after 18.00 before I got there, it would be a long day.

At least the sun was shining and I watched a lizard soaking up the warmth on some wooden steps.

I generally only carry up a litre of water but with a wild camp I need at least an extra litre for cooking etc.
You could usually expect to top up your water at public toilets but these days it is more often a self contained hand wash unit that you can't get any water out of.
Luckily the toilet at East Portholland had an outside tap.

With 3 miles still to go I was on the lookout for any decent pitch for the tent and at 17.30 I found one, I was a bit short of the Point but I was more than ready to stop.

21 miles in just over 9 hours.