Log No 265. Thu 6th Mar 2014 - Pendeen to Land's End, 10 miles (4042 miles walked)

I had parked up for a second night in Hayle on a bit of rough ground next to the road, last night another lorry was in here and I heard more activity through the night.

At 4 o'clock in the morning I heard another lorry and doors open & close, then there was a knock on the side of the camper.

I threw on a jacket & trousers and went outside to see what the problem was, one lorry was just driving away and another had it's lights on but I couldn't see anybody. The driver of the lorry just leaving may have been having a laugh!

Well I was up now so decided to drive on nearer to Penzance and have a couple of hours in a layby before going on to a Tesco car park to leave the camper in while I walk.

Oh well, it's back to rain again and I got off the bus in Pendeen at 09.00 in full waterproofs.

I went down the road through the Geevor Tin Mine visitor centre and onto the coastal path at Levant.

With all the mine workings around here the path is easy walking although you could pick a rougher path if you wanted too, there is no shortage of paths.

The path dropped down to cross the stream coming from Tregesea then climbed gently back up and round to the small headland of Cape Cornwall.

The day was more damp than wet, there wasn't much wind and the rain was mainly light but I was taking no chances and had doubled up with the waterproof jackets.

With St Just being inland only a short distance there were plenty of dog walkers about but I never saw any hikers.

There was another gentle descent at Porth Nanyen down into Cot Valley to cross a stream.

With Land's End in sight there was one more small stream to cross then it was on towards Whitesand Bay but with no easy way down onto the beach the path stayed above it, going through the dunes to Sennen Cove.

I sat on a bench and finished my sandwiches watching the few folk on the beach. There was no real sea on and the surfers soon abandoned any attempts to find a wave good enough to surf on.

I checked the bus times at the bus stop, the next bus leaving Land's End was at 13.41 so I had an hour to walk the remaining mile.

My intention was to carry on for another 4 miles to Porthcurno but I discovered the bus doesn't stop there on every service and the next bus after 13.41 which would stop was the 17.53.

There was no way I was going to hang around for up to 3 hours so reluctantly would end the day at Land's End.

Arriving at the "Sign Post" it was so reminiscent of 10 years ago when I arrived here to start my "End to End" walk - the place was deserted, everything shut and the weather identical.

With 20 minutes to wait for the bus I sat at a picnic bench near the sign post hoping someone would be along and could take a photo of me here. A couple did come by before I had to leave so I did manage to get my photo.

Only 10 miles so I'll be back at the camper in plenty of time to make a big pot of mince, that will keep me going until I take my final break of the trip.

I couldn't be much further away from home but I will be having the last 2 weeks in March back home in Orkney. With the travelling time and spending a couple of days seeing my parents I will be leaving here on Sunday, when I return on the 30th March it will be with my tent.