27 March 2013: 36km. Started 08:20. Arrived 18:00.
As I had predicted, the breakfast was substantial and presented perfectly. The only other guests were staying during a protracted house move accomplished without a removal van as it would not be able to access either house. I actually walked past their old house later in the day!
My route began on roads and then paths heading on to Exmoor. The paths over the open moorland were indistinct. The wind added significant chill to the cold conditions. I found a bank to shelter behind to eat a hurried lunch. Phone reception had been non-existent from sometime yesterday when I was near Barnstaple. Once on the high moor near the marsh marked on the map as the source of the River Exe, I accessed a day old message from my husband asking if I wanted him to drive over with some warmer clothes. It must be really cold if he’s worried! Of course that message was for last night so it was too late.
A highlight as I saw a herd of deer whilst dropping down from Exe Head. However they saw me too so I didn’t manage to get very close before they ran off.
Somehow, I missed a path but then regained a clear bridlepath down to my destination. The temperature rose as I descended and the sun came out for a short time. However then it snowed….
I hadn’t stayed in a youth hostel since the early 1980s. Rather than a large dormitory, I was in a four bedded room but only two beds were occupied. I discovered that I would not be expected to do a chore the next morning before leaving. They still had a rubber stamp to use to add to my collection of “evidence”. However, as a walker I was in a minority – most of the guests were in cars. I ate dinner at the White Horse Inn across the road – very different from the hostel dinners or the self-cooking meals I had eaten in the past at youth hostels.
Where's Kathryn? 