20/08/2025
190km hiked. Eaten alive by eleventy billion ticks. Attacked by a drone ant swarm through the chains. Sweltering heat, gorgeous views, dappled riverside meanderings. A long day with Alice for company and Tangfastics. Pub pint with Dan and Dad. Fabulous pink lady apples. Sheep a plenty, and never trust them with directions, they’ll only lead you astray. Electrocuted (twice) and chased by cows. A hard slog uphill in boiling heat. Kind strangers, a weird bunk bed. Tough old route with blisters across Dartmoor and a wild, scary night. An early morning rescue mission for tea and comfort. A long run through many woods and over many a moor. Views to die for, stretching forever. Thunder, lightning, thick pea-soup Dartmoor fog. Giant ants crawling over me, pinch blisters on my toes, I walked my other little toenail clean off. Bitten, stung, scratched, bruised, blistered. The weirdest tan lines on my legs.
I’ve asked for help in ways I never would before, and every time it’s been provided, by kind people or the universe. Saved by laughing farmers, by big beech trees giving shade in the beating sun, by our lovely Dan when I was at my lowest, by mighty tors in the pouring rain. Pooped alfresco. Smiled at strangers, stopped to chat with anyone who wanted to. Met an 83-year-old out for a casual 10-miler. Climbed an ascent equal to Mont Blanc.
Philosophical conversations over breakfast with strangers. Pints in many a pub. Saw (or hallucinated) a parrot. Went the wrong way, corrected myself. Laughed at goats. Cried when I saw the sea.
I’m so proud of myself. I dug deeper than I knew I could. I’ve never been so happy to see the sea. I walked straight in and plunged my hands into the water.
I did it 💪⛰️🎉🏆
I walked from the North Devon Coast to the South Devon Coast over the last 9 days!!! 🥰🫠
