SWCP: St Ives to Carn Galver tin mine

 

I didn’t really zoom out to sea. 
Strava going doolally again.

Well, today I seemed to have bionic legs. Maybe due to having done a bit of leg-stretching last night. My knees, ankles, feet were fine and I seemed to have so much energy. That may be because the going for the first few hours was slow - the paths were full of rocks and boulders and I had to be extra-careful about where I placed my feet because there was no phone signal all day and it would have been difficult to extricate myself if I’d sprained my ankle. There were quite a few other walkers along the route who would have helped, but still, it wouldn’t have been fun.  I had loads of nice chats with people today and I just really enjoyed the walking. The views were wonderful. Turquoise, sparkling sea, colourful heather and gorse, all sorts of striking rocks and boulders. 

The day began with an hour’s bus ride from Camborne to St Ives. The Airbnb owners (a couple called Suzanne and David) were lovely people but I got a bit of a life story at breakfast involving a plethora of horrible bereavements which distracted me and when I got to the bus stop I realised that I still had their front door key in my pocket, from walking to get my curry last night. I phoned David and told him I’d leave the key hidden in the churchyard by the bus stop, but a few minutes later he swept up in his car just as the bus was arriving, so drama was averted. He’s a regional union boss - as I said to him as he pulled up, “the man who can!”

When I got to Camborne I made a bee-line for a coffee place that I’d noticed yesterday, the Yallah cafe. It was just opening (at 9) and I was the first customer, so I got this amazing window table. Great start to the day!

As I left St Ives it was raining and the shoreline and cliffs ahead of me were shrouded in cloud. I was pretty sure it wouldn’t last but there was no internet signal so I could check. I sallied forth, hoping there wouldn’t be loads of grasses lining the path that would fill my shoes with water again. 

Looking back towards St Ives

After about an hour and a half of sweaty walking in several layers and a raincoat, the sun stayed to break through and an intensely blue sky emerged. Happy days!

Let there be light on the horizon!

My goal today was to get at least as far as Zennor. All the guide books seem to have dire warnings about this section, saying it’s one of the toughest parts of the path, but I thought it was not that hard. Admittedly it required a lot of mental focus to safely place the feet, especially when it was raining and more slippery, but actually a fair bit of it was quite level walking. As usual, some young guy ran past me as I plodded along. He then stopped and asked me for some water because incredibly, he didn’t seem to have brought any. And he was in trainers! They were soaking wet, of course. Ah, the insouciance of youth. As I was waiting for the bus at the end of the day, he walked past and I wondered whether he'd just been running all day. 

There was a Cows Incident on the stretch to Zennor - a big group of them on the very narrow path and I couldn’t get round them. I was also a bit concerned because one of them had horns, and I wasn’t sure whether it could be female or not. I was worried that it could be a bull who would get annoyed if I poked the female cows out of the way. I overtook a few of them and then shouted and banged my sticks together for about 15 minutes to no avail. Suddenly two more hikers appeared on the path behind me. We had a brief conversation about it and for some reason this seemed to make the cows move off along the path, and eventually they got to a little piece of grass off to the side and I could put them behind me. I thought I might be stuck there for ages!

The guilty parties

 Between Zennor and Gurnard’s Head
were these dramatic rocks

I finally got to Zennor and had a sit down and a Coke in the pub there, sitting inside in the cool. That revived me and I decided to carry on to Gurnard’s Head. However, once I got there I realised that I’d just miss the hourly bus, so I continued to the next bus stop, which was at the Carn Galver tin mine (a National Trust property). About half an hour before the bus was due there, I got an  bit of internet signal so I looked up the route map and realised that I’d probably just miss the next bus and be stuck there for an hour, so I sped up and did a bit of running where possible. I made it with three minutes to spare, hot, gasping and red in the face, having run up the hill. Of course the bus was about ten minutes late, but better safe than sorry. 

Superwoman

There was a coachload of tourists at the mine, milling around and taking pictures. The late afternoon sunlight was hazy and soft. I was extremely happy when the bus appeared!

Finally got to the Airbnb just after 6pm. The host, Jackie, was kind enough to give me some dinner so I didn’t have to go out for food. I’ve got a blister on my right foot but it’s not too bad. Elizabeth and Alan are picking me up in their car at 10.30 tomorrow to drive us to the mine. We’ll park there and see how far we can walk. Means I can have a bit of a lie-in.  Hope my legs feel good tomorrow too!