|
So far, this is our most strenuous walk. It leads through the most varied terrain we've encountered on the path, there's a surprise up every hill and around every corner and the weather is wicked in some areas. Probably all that excitement is why this is our favorite hike.
It's rainy and cold as we head down the main street in Marazion to get bus to Penzance. Bob and I leave before Susanne so we can putz around Penzance a bit.
After putzing we eat a bacon sandwich and a down a pot of tea.
We take the bus to Lamorna and it starts raining again. It will do this all day long! Sunny and hot then storming and freezing. Take raincoat off, put it on, take it off, you get the idea. The bus takes us to top of the hill that leads down a lane to the coast. It doesn't seem fair that we have to walk a mile just to get to the trail.
Back in the days of contraband alcohol, a wink would get you a drink.
We reach Lamorna Cove. And drink a third cup of tea.
The path starts out rocky and steep.
Cirrus clouds. Weather changing.
A giant rock beach!
We leave the rocks and enter the woods.
This is where things got wild. The wind picked up out of nowhere, and for a solid ten minutes, it was a literal battle against the elements. We were doubled over just to stay on the path. The rain lashed sideways, turning the trail into a blur. Then, in classic Cornwall fashion, the weather flipped again—the moment we made it down, the clouds started to part.
Logan Rock is a massive 80-ton granite monster that used to actually rock in the wind. It's the most famous of Cornwall’s “Logan” or “Logging” (rocking) stones. Balanced precariously on the cliffs overlooking Porthcurno Beach, it was famed for its ability to rock gently back and forth with the slightest touch.
Except one day in 1824, a group of (bored? crazy? gormless?) sailors from the Royal Navy cutter, Nimble, and under the leadership of one Lieutenant Hugh Goldsmith, decided to disprove the assertion that no mortal man could dislodge the rock. The hapless seamen succeeded in tipping the rock down the cliff and into the sea. Read about it here. 
Logan Rock, circled in red.
That little patch of beach up there is Porthcurno. The weather has changed once again.
Looking back.
Site of very first cable connection from UK to Brest then via trans-Atlantic cable to Canada, then US. Read about the transatlantic telegraph cable here.
After climbing down and crossing the beach, we head up the other side.
Cream tea!
|