Day 4, June 4, 2011 -- St. Ives to Portreath

Today was a long day – 17 miles and 9 hours. I departed the B&B in St. Ives at 9:30 and arrived at the Portreath B&B at 6:30.

The weather was warm and sunny. There were many people on the beaches, and a few families on the trail, but I couldn’t identify any true hikers. Nobody had backpacks or water, and everybody I saw on the trail was within a half mile of a parking area.



Hayle at low tide

 I arrived at the village of Hayle at 12:30, so decided to look for a bakery to buy a pasty for lunch. Near the end of town was the only bakery, with a long line of customers out the door and down the sidewalk. “This must be the spot,” I concluded, so I joined the line. The fellow in front of me told me this is the best bakery in the area; he himself drove from St. Ives just to buy a pasty. The wait took about 10 minutes, and as I approached the counter, the fellow from St. Ives said to me, “Order a medium steak pasty.” Well, OK. I added a liter of milk. The St. Ives fellow also ordered a medium steak pasty.

We walked outside together and I sat at a picnic table, but he couldn’t stay, muttering something about wives and cats.

The medium steak pasty weighed about 2 pounds, or maybe 2 kilos. Although it was absolutely delicious – the best pasty I’ve ever had – I could eat only half of it and placed the other half in my backpack for later. I also could drink only half the liter of milk, putting the other half in my pack. So the pasty and milk offset 7 maps which I had mailed yesterday.

Resuming the walk, I grew lonely not having anybody to talk with. I came upon a churchyard, and decided to talk with some dead people. They listened politely, but didn’t have much to say.

A little later, I talked with a cow. She was not friendly and told me to mooove on. Then I came upon a steer, but he just eyed me suspiciously. I think he doesn’t trust people any more.






With nobody to talk with I just plodded on and enjoyed the scenery.  I hope you do too.

© 2011 Ken Klug