An inauspicious start to the day, I’d turned my alarm on to vibrate so as not to disturb the other occupant of the cottage and then slept through it. Not a huge deal as I am not in a hurry, but annoying. Then, while making toast, I managed to set the fire alarm off. The toast wasn’t burnt, it wasn’t even properly toasted! I was relieved not to have an angry fellow guest thunder into the kitchen so made a hasty exit!
I was on the trail at about 8am. My dinner companions from last night were planning to get a bacon sandwich from the Cadence Cafe when it opened at 9am and had to wait for the members of the group who were staying overnight in Midhurst to rejoin them. I was happy to get on my way.
The path today was almost exclusively flinty, chalky paths. Very easy to see where you are going, just spot the white gash up the side of the next hill, but tough underfoot. I do feel as though someone has taken a meat tenderiser to the soles of my feet!
The up hill sections were gentle today, affording views across the countryside. It was a little misty early on, but that soon cleared as the temperature rose. The downhills were more tricky, loose rocks, steep gradients and a heavy backpack is not a winning combination! Slow and steady was definitely the order of the day.
I stopped for coffee and second breakfast at the Cadence Cafe near Upwaltham. This was roughly halfway through my walk today. It is a measure of the relative ease of today’s section that I was surprised at how quickly I got there!
After meeting and chatting with so many people yesterday, today was a return to almost deserted trails. I didn’t encounter a single walker and only saw a couple of cyclists, until I got to within 5km of Amberley. Amberley was my chosen end point for the day purely based on the fact it has a station. I was also pleased to see that it had places to eat, so treated myself to fish, chips and a pint with a river view before beginning the journey home.
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