This hike about did us in. I miscalculated the distance from Woolacombe to Morthoe, thinking it was 1.5 miles when it was actually 5 miles because we had to walk around the headline and enter Morthoe from the other side of the village because that’s where we left off walking last time. By day’s end we did 16 miles and were totally wiped out. But we did it; we closed off a missing section! 

Day starts easy with walk along the road.

Amazing craftsmanship!

The path goes along quite a few roads in this area. It’s a bit unnerving as the road is not very wide and there are no sidewalks.

Our goal is around that headland way over there.

We reach Croyde by walking across the beach. Lots of surfers here; the rain doesn’t faze them. Moms and kids are sitting on the beach watching the surfers, rain coming down pretty heavy!

We stop to rest and snack.

Phil and Ryan will remember these!

Whale bones! Cool!

The path switches between coast and field and woods. Not much climbing yet.

That’s Morthoe ahead, though still a few hours away.

Haha! Love that sense of humor!

We stop in Woolacombe to sit for a few. When we stand up we’re pretty creaky, like the Tin Man. We have to go on because there’s only 1.5 miles to close the gap between hikes. Or so we think. Although if we knew at this point how far we had to go, we might not have gone on.

It’s too dark to read but this sign says “hahaha you think you’ll reach Morthoe in an hour or so? Think again! The path always wins!”

Leaving Woolacombe, we immediately zigzag up a hill. And up some more. This is looking down on the village.

We walk along the top for quite a bit.

Morthoe is somewhere up there, just around the corner. But it’s at this point that we realize that we have to come into Morthoe from the OTHER side, because that’s where we left off last year. Which means we still have to around that whole section up ahead. Yikes.

Cute!

Dodging sheep poop for the next few miles, not so cute!

This looks innocent enough but it’s here that we get discombobulated. There are so many paths leading God knows where. We wander up and down for quite a bit.

Morthoe! Just as we remember it!

Trying to figure out the buses. The schedule posted here is two years old. We know we have to take two buses to get back to Barnstaple, and that buses in Morthoe don't run in the evening. We decide to hang out at the bus stop for 30 minutes and then decide what to do. We end up catching the last bus of the day!

We transfer to another bus and get off in Braunton to eat and drink.

Check out the malt vinegar shaker!

Our last bus of the day! We bought Epson Salts while in Woolacombe, and I plan to soak for a long time!

Too tired for the chocolate cake awaiting us in our room!