This year’s walking jaunt in Britain takes us to the far southwest corner of the island. The South West Coast Path (SWCP) is the UK’s longest National Trail at 630 miles, and we plan to walk about 1/4 of it over 20 days from Land’s End, near Penzance, to Plymouth.
The coastal path is often rugged and hilly, alternating between beaches and cliff tops, and the work to transition between them! While we have aimed for 10-mile days, many are shorter to enable us to stay right next to the path. However, our longest day is expected to be 12 miles and 3,000 ft total ascent – equivalent to climbing England’s highest mountain, Scafell Pike. Poldark is a TV show that captures this landscape well, and Daphne du Maurier’s novels are set here. Our accommodation ranges from a room at a farm to a 5* hotel! Our most difficult challenge will likely be to avoid eating too much of the yummy Cornish delicacies.
As well as being its own adventure, this is a stepping stone for a bigger adventure. While we are using a luggage transfer this time, we look forward to hiking the 73-mile Cumbria Way next summer without luggage transfer, i.e., carrying everything ourselves. That is to prepare us for our 2028 adventure: hiking Land’s End to John O’Groats.
Land’s End is at the bottom left on UK, and is also where we are starting our current hike. John O’Groats is at the top left of mainland UK, at the northeast corner of Scotland. There is no specific route for this hike, allowing the hikers to choose the shortest or flattest route, or opt more scenery or interesting destinations on the way. The most direct route for the hike, known as LEJOG, is about 1,000 miles and will probably take us 3-4 months.
For now, back to our pending adventure. It’s been eighteen years since our last visit to Land’s End, and a lot has changed! We are thankful that Kylie and Caroline are looking after our house and Saydee, as we wonder how wild the weather will get!
Look out for tales from villages with fascinating names such as Megavissey, Portwrinkle, or Looe!
The Adventures of the Cajunlimeys 
Love this picture! They were so little there! When are you leaving to go on this trip?
LikeLiked by 1 person
We have left! We were supposed to leave this afternoon in a direct flight, but that got cancelled, so we flew this morning to Newark, where we currently are, for a flight this evening into Heathrow. Then it’s a five hour train journey tomorrow and we start hiking on Thursday.
LikeLike
Be safe and enjoy!
LikeLike
Wonderful! Can’t wait to follow along! Wishing you blue skies and tail winds. Mel
LikeLike