With less than 815 miles to go before i reached Southampton i was feeling amped. The low murmurings of the nearby motorway could hardly be heard and I'd had a reasonably good nights sleep. After having breakfast and packing up and after I'd removed three ticks that had been feasting on my blood i began to hike towards Bristol which at first was easy and pleasant. As the day progressed the slowly begun to be a little unbearable but nowhere near as unbearable as the route I'd have to take. Leaving the coast when confronted by some industrial works i was forced to hike the roads that passed through mile after mile of industrial parks and estates. With no sea breeze to cool me down the temperatures seemed to soar. My pack had also now given up.
When carol had joined me for part of the Pembrokeshire coastal path I'd noticed that one of the back supports had ripped through the lining shifting most of the weight over to my right shoulder. Now the right back support had ripped through the bottom of the pack and niether where doing any supporting in the slightest. It was something I'd have to put up with unless i could find some way of making repairs.
Now leaving the industrial sector of Bristol i was heading into the residential area. This was just as difficult to navigate. Roads criss crossing with every street looking the same. Rows of houses blocked my views and disoriented I did my best to locate the footpath to cross the motorway bridge over the river avon. After a while i turned to passers by for directions.
It wasn't easy but i did eventually find the path that took me up onto the gangways that ran alongside the multiple lanes and down towards Portishead on the far side. The temperature was continuing to rise and i was beginning to find it a little unbearable. Taking regular breaks and finding shade whenever i could i kept hiking away from the noise and pollution of city life. The next few miles appeared to take an age to cover and i was still no closer to the coast. I passed hundreds of imported cars parked in vast car parks waiting to be delivered to showrooms across the country.
Portishead was a mere 3 miles away but i was feeling the heat and beginning to waver. Portishead is an up and coming town with new housing developments that weren't visible on the satellite images I'd cached to my phone. Sticking to the edge i followed them round to bring me out on the promenade and back to the coast. On the far side of the marina i could see the newest addition to the rnli, a new station that had been built to house the new boat and crew who until recently had been an independent lifeboat service.
After a brief visit and coffee with dunking biscuits i headed off eager to clock up some more miles taking advantage of the cool evening air. Ideally i hoped to get to Clevedon before nightfall which would mean a slightly shorter hike the following day. It was hard picking up the coastal path from Portishead as it simply wasn't well sign posted but i did eventually come across the clifftop walk following a couple of miles meandering.
The clifftop walk was narrow and with several miles to hike before reaching the town and evening drawing in i began to wonder if I'd be able to find somewhere to pitch up before nightfall. At every possibility i stopped to see the viability of camping. Looking into one field i heard a rustle. A few seconds later from beneath a bush a badger popped out. We both froze. I slowly reached for my camera but as soon as i did the badger turned about and disappeared from whence it came.
Finding a suitable place to stop was proving most difficult. But i didn't give up. Even with the daylight almost completely gone i continued along the narrow footpath along the clifftop. It was another couple of miles and gone 10pm by the time i found a small grassy patch below me on a ledge. It was good enough. Just big enough for the tent and just far enough away from the cliff that i wouldn't accidentally fall off.
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