Padstow to Treyarnon

Padstow to Treyarnon

Distance - 17.5Km
Time Taken - A few hours
Ascent - 325m ish.

Back to the South West Coast Path (SWCP) to complete the full 3 days that I didn't quite finish last year.  This year I was lighter and came off a full training regime, haha yeah right.  Not sure 3 long walks since Christmas count as a regime...

A walking person

A bus ride from Newquay took us to the tourist trap of Padstow for the first day of our adventures.  Joined by Nic we made a swift start and went straight into a Pasty shop (or bakery as they are known in these parts).  Today's award winning pasties were of the Lamb, Leek and Mint variety, and were pretty tasty.



The walk is fairly easy along the Camel estuary and route finding is a doddle.  For a winter walk along the coast we were fully prepared for all weathers conditions except one, warm and sun were definitely not in the plan but proved to be our friend on all three days.

The climb around Stepper Point is the first part of the walk that begins to feel a bit more wild and coast like.  Nothing too steep but enough to take my breath away (doesn't take much).

Lunch was taken at Trevone Bay where a lone hardy surfer was the only other person on the beach.  Padstow had been surprisingly busy but the rest of the walk proved to be as quiet as the time of year would suggest. 

Harlyn Bay was again quiet and made a great contrast to the summer throngs that fill any piece of sand with tanning, ice creams and beach balls.  This is probably the only part of the walk with a slightly iffy route to find.  The path is along the beach and you need to keep an eye out for steps up through the dunes. 

The lighthouse on Trevose Head was a big feature on the walk, it looked so far away from the Walkabout in Newquay (where we had a final planning meeting...) the night before.  It appaered as a dot flashing on the horizon (it's a lighthouse, go figure...) and looked a long way off considering  it's about 10 miles into the walk.  It's not often you can do a walk after seeing most of the route from a pub the night before.

The walk ended at Treyarnon Bay Youth Hostel.  This hostel is in such a perfect location, right on the beach.  Can't fault the place at all.  A lovely sausage and mash and a few ciders ended the day perfectly.  Legs were a little sore but no blisters!  Made a risky choice of wearing trail shoe rather than the old broke in boots.  The shoes, Keen Targhee's, are fairly new with only two 7 milers and two 5 miler's under the belt.  Looking good so far!