Jeri’s Steps: 35,353
Miles walked: 13.15
Elevation: 1077
Pints: 2
Churches: 0
Stiles: 1
Benches: 2

Not all days are the same. Today was not our best. The day started and ended in a downpour, Tim fell into a stream and we argued with a Cornish farmer.

On leaving the Jamaica Inn in Bolventor, we headed north of the A30 up towards the moors. Before we got to Hendra Downs, the path crossed the river Fowey, which regrettably was in full flow. We got across via some rocks, but when scaling the bank on the other side Tim lost his footing and fell backwards, landing on his back. Luckily it was just mud and vegetation and his fall was cushioned by the soft stuff in the backpack. But he did look like a turtle on its back. What a shame there is no photographic record. Highlight of the day was walking across the open moor. The path was not defined at all so we used GPS to guide us. There were a series of stones and cairns dotted about and we took our late morning snack break on top of Black Rock. Then we descended to Fivelanes and lunch at the Kings Head. Nothing special about that place; we ate, we drank, we left. After turning down towards Tredaule we crossed a field and came across our first obstacle; an ancient stile bordered on both sides with barbed wire, which we managed to cross with a huge effort. It’s very annoying that farmers purposefully block public rights of way like this. After having to divert across a field when confronted with yet another mess of barbed wire, a farmer accosted us, telling us we were trepassing on his road. We asked permission to carry on down to the intersection with the public road but he wouldn’t listen to our complaint about the earlier paths which he had blocked. Annoying. Tired of these Cornish footpaths and their obstacles, we walked the roads all the way to Launceston, including a mile long stretch on the busy A30 and were glad to get to our Airbnb just after 6.00pm.