It changes here! The early part of the first day continues to be fairly flat but finishing with a flourish as the route moves up to the cliff tops at the bottom of the Isle of Purbeck. This flourish is a harbinger of what is to come over the next few days with numerous ascents and descents as we progress along the cliff tops passing features such as the Tilly Whim Caves, Blackers Hole, Dancing Ledge and the Seacombe, Houns Tout and Gad cliffs, as well as the Kimmeridge Ledges. It is certainly an outing where the walking poles should come in to their own, assisting with the up as well as the downhill sections. As the graphs below demonstrate, it is not like a typical hillwalk where you go up and come down. Some of the sections of the SWCP entail walking up and downhill all day, day after day, which is what makes it such a challenge. The different sections of the walk can be found on Stages of the Walk on the main website.
Bearing in mind I'm an auld mannie, this is a short walk of eight days and, to ensure we hit the Tyneham military range at a weekend (which is the only time you can traverse the Gad cliff), we have adapted the mileage to suit the purpose, rather than by how far we can walk. Later sections entail slightly longer distances but I would not envisage having to walk over twenty miles on more than one, maybe two occasions. After four or five days rest, it will be nice to be back on the road again. Follow the daily walk on Facebook by searching for @ScottishVagabond2.