Tuesday 12 May 2026

Day 21 of walking
St Ives to Porth Kidney Beach and back
Distance: 10.43km
Total distance: 410.61km
Climbing: 376m
Total climb: 13,018

A very cruisy day. 8.30 breakfast and we didn’t get out the door until after 9.30. Our mission was to walk 5 of the 10 kilometres back toward Hayle and then to return to St Ives. This was to make up for the 10kms we didn’t walk from Hayle to St Ives yesterday. While the path was never far from roads and houses it does have good views over Porthminster, Carbis and Porth Kidney Beaches and to St Ives itself. It is also always close to the railway branch line to St Ives and several times you have to cross the tracks on pedestrian over bridges. The trains run every 30 minutes so we saw quite a few of them. Fortunately for about a third of the walk there is a high path and a low path option. Going out we took the high path and returned on the low path. The tide was coming in so we didn’t get a chance to walk on the beach.

One of the nice things about going back along the Coast Path is that you meet your friends coming toward you from Hayle. The first was an English lady who has lived in Switzerland for 40 years and has her family there although her relatives live in England. She did some of the Coast Path last year before having to abandon due to an injury. She is back this year and is walking to Falmouth. We have talked with her several times and she is always so outgoing and positive. She is not camping but she is carrying a big load – not using the luggage transfer service. The next were an American couple we first met back in Portreath. They have walked quite a few sections of the path and come back each year to fill in the gaps. They end this trip today in St Ives. They spent a lot of time telling us how difficult the next stage, St Ives to Pendeen, is. They have done it and it took them 12 hours, it was blisteringly hot, they ran out of water and there are no facilities along the way. It was the first day of their last trip here and we think they are just not very fit. We also have walked that section before, and it is a long, strenuous day, but if you start early and are prepared with food and water and pace yourself it is not too difficult.

Then we met the German couple from Berlin who were so enamoured with the seals yesterday. We have spoken with them a few times and they have stayed at some of the same hotels as us. They finish in St Ives today so we won’t see them again. We don’t meet people like us doing the full monty but lots are doing just say a week at a time. It is so easy for them to fly in from Europe or elsewhere in the UK and do a week or two.

Today was our shortest and easiest day yet, but then it was really only half a day. Tomorrow we have a rest (and washing) day here, so will go and have a look around the town and the other four beaches of St Ives.