Apparently, my last post was my 200th post, which I find quiet remarkable, although it has taken me 11 years. To mark this auspicious occasion, I think I’m going to get very wet today. When I went to bed last night the weather app said rain all night with a slight window of no rain between 2 and 5 pm. Surprisingly, things has improved overnight. I wasn’t raining when I woke up, and the weather forecast showed no rain until 11 am. I wolfed down my breakfast and was out walking by 8:30. I must say BnB-side, where I stayed, was excellent.

I got good views of where the coast path (probably) came down from the cliff top and even in daylight my accidental road option was best. It was bright, but very windy day with enough rain (or spray) in the air to keep me continually questioning what I was wearing. I was only wearing my Mountain Equipment light top, but I decided to persevere with it – which proved to be the correct decision (until it rained). I followed the path down to the beach and clambered up some steps onto the top of the shingle berm. Initially it was just a wire frame which was easy to walk on, but soon turned into large shingle boulders, which wasn’t.

I realised I hadn’t set my Garmin watch going, which was a disappointment but I definitely wasn’t waking back the two kilometres I’d missed (edit, it was 1.05 km to be pedantic) . I tried powering across the shingle using my poles to provide extra boost. This worked quite well until I lost one of my rubber tips (bought at great expense on the Inca Trail), but on the whole was exhausting. This shingle bank extends for nearly 30km and is isolated from the land a stretch of water called the Fleet. When planning this walk I had considered walking along the beach. It must be beautifully isolated being only connected at both end. A few reviews of people who had walked it, reported that it was hard, and after this short stretch I’m sure it would be completely exhausting.

I was going to try to stay on the opposite side of the causeway than from where I walked in. The best I could manage was the cycleway on the opposite side of the road. I crossed the bridge where the Fleet links into the sea. The water level was really high so the tide must be in, and it looks like a really strong current flowing into the Fleet lagoon.

At the end of the bridge, I turned westwards on the coast path and had my first shelter from the brisk off-shore wind. The path just followed the Fleet shoreline, with plenty of ups and downs to get around obstructions. Given the time of day, there were lots of dog walkers to greet with a “morning”. One grumpy guy who didn’t really respond, but called back to me saying the path would probably be blocked due to a high tide and gave me instructions on which paths to take. He definitely saved me some time, and goes to show that you shouldn’t judge people. None of the “happy” dog walkers warned me about the tide!

It was a fairly long diversion, but when I got to the far end I could see there was no way through. It’s surprising that there is no high tide route marked, as there was on the parths in Sussex and Hampshire. The path just followed the Fleet, it was really nice walking through fields and the shingle bank (which is up to 15m high in places) seemed to provide quite a bit of shelter.

There were occasional things to take your mind off the path, like a diversion around an army camp and very remote hotels. My main interest was in the fishing huts on the other side of the Fleet. I’m not sure of the purpose, are they for fishing in the Fleet, ie you would take a boat across to the hut for a bit of solitude, or are they a base for fishing in the sea over the top of the bank. I’ll try to find out, but they seem like very remote huts and somehow made me think of the 1910s Antarctica explorers and their prefab wood huts located in inappropriate locations. The path also passes through a MoD Firing Range, which I’m pleased to say was open unlike the Lulworth Ranges.

The weather was changing, and I had a plan to get to Abbotsbury and if the weather didn’t look good catch the 1:15 bus back to Weymouth. My main plan was to keep walking and intercept the next bus (due into Abbotsbury at 5:08) somewhere further west. The thought of a wet afternoon and no escape until dusk was very unappealing. Just as the path headed inland, the rain started. Initially I was going to put my coat on, but remembered my poncho which is pretty good in light rain and light wind. It wouldn’t of been very good on the cliff tops last night!

It was almost 12, and I thought I had loads of time to catch the bus, until the paths became very muddy, and headed uphill across lumpy fields. I met a few other people walking the other way, who were equally drenched, having been caught out by the first shower. The path went through a field of reasonably boisterous young cows. I was in a rush and didn’t allow any messing around. I think I was their natural leader, even on a small bridge, where they all gathered to mug me, I was able to talk them out of any rash actions.

Just as I was convinced I would make the bus easily, the path followed a narrow ridge. The cross slope of the path tried to deposit me either, down the hill or just into dense brambles on each step. My boot laces became snagged and I had to stop to tie them up again. It was becoming a bit of a farce.

The final challenge was descending through,  what I’m pretty sure was, an Iron Age hillfort down to the road. I reached Abbotsbury with about 5 minutes to spare. However, the bus stop timetable had no mention of the 1:15 bus. However, by the time I downloaded the First Bus tracking app, it said the bus was due in 1 minute, and appeared as soon as I looked up.

It had been raining on and off, and it looked like the rain was set in for the afternoon. I’m sure I made the right decision and felt quite smug on the bus ride back to Weymouth with rain pouring down the windows.

I think there is about 30 km to finish the Dorset Coast Path to Lyme Regis, and I need to devise a plan to complete it (in winter conditions).

On the train home, Liz called to say she had got last minute tickets, from the waiting list, for Danny Robins and the “Uncanny” live show. It was a bit of an uncanny coincidence that I had decided to stop walking early, and it was a bit of a rush but I got there – and stayed awake! Although I’m still not sure that I believe in Ghosts! Definitely Team Skeptic.