Braunton to Barnstaple - Full Circle

Today is my last hiking day and all of 6 miles along a straight light by the estuary. The path was paved and the biggest concern was getting hit by a cyclist.

The weather was in the 50s, overcast, and breezy. The wind was nothing like what I experienced over the last 3 days.

Breakfast at Trojen was really lovely. Berries, yogurt, toast, scrambled eggs and sausage, just the way I like it (burned).

The walk started along a trail with some rather unusual ducks - wood ducks and shoveler ducks.

Just after the ponds, the trail continued by an air base. There were some interesting signs alerting those interesting in breaking in that there were dogs on watch.....

The walk was along an estuary and the tide was out. The clouds made for a pretty view.

I made a brief stop at a cafe which was closed, but was in an estate that was rather pretty

Today's big excitement was seeing a murmuration. No photos, but I watched it through my binoculars. I actually used them several times this trip - makes a difference when they are out and around my neck.

I met two other walkers who were walking the path and they were really the only two encountered over the last 5 days. They were local and do bits of the path almost every week.

I arrived into Barnstaple at around noon

and couldn't check in until 2:30, so stopped at a tea shop called Queen Anne's Cafe on the Strand. There I had a cheese scone, a slice of walnut coffee cake and tea and killed 2 hours eating slowly and refilling my tea pot with hot water 3 times.

I walked over to my B and B called No 22 B and B and it is really lovely. What a nice way to end my trip along this section of the SWCP!

I had a long soak in the soaking tub.

Dinner was at the Himalaya Ghurkha and had some of the best momos I've had outside of Kathmandu- very tasty dinner.