There are very few places that capture the picturesque and beauty of Port Isaac- a fishing village located in the Cornwall region of western England. Rolling hills of square cut fields plaster the landscape, blanketing the countryside in a lazy wave of green. The fields go on for what seems like forever, are only cut short by the menacing yet graceful cliffs that jut intrusively into the ocean, breaking against the slow, steady drum of the waves. The waves are a sound often accompanied by the cawing of seagulls. They fly through the air, constantly calling out their song and reminding us that this is a quintessentially quaint fishing village despite the world class scenery.
According to Professor Hayward, there are over 700 miles of trails surrounding Port Isaac. That number seems large, but given the varied and beautiful terrain, I’m surprised there aren’t more. Today, we walked a mere five miles of trails and it was one of the most beautiful hikes of my life. I frequently hike in the New Mexico-Colorado area so hiking to me involves towering mountains and the smell of pine trees. Here, it was rolling green hills, the odd cow or sheep, and the salty smell of the ocean.
After a respite from the arduous hike, a couple of friends and I marched back out to the top of a beautiful green hill, overlooking the village of Port Isaac. We all had reading that needed to be done, and we couldn’t think of a better spot to do it. The light wind shook the grass around us and it was an incredibly peaceful experience. For a time. An hour or so into our reading session, I glanced behind me only to see a herd of cows milling about in the grass. I immediately stood up and exclaimed that there was entire herd of cows, just twenty or thirty feet away from us. We all stood up and were transfixed by these creatures. They were enormous and their curious eyes were transfixing. We walked about them for a bit, getting a little closer than we knew was safe, but keeping a good distance all the same. The cows of Port Isaac wandered around for a while, ate some grass, and continued on their way- taking little to no notice of us.
