Daily Distance – 21km
Daily Ascent – 620m
Daily Descent – 280m
Total Distance – 954km
Distance Remaining – 44km
I feel it in my fingers
I feel it in my toes
It’s been raining all the long day
but that’s just how hiking goes
My toes resemble prunes
Rain’s everywhere I go, oh yes it is
So before it turns to trench foot
Come on and let my hut show, oh
1 soggy hiker (with assistance from Wet, Wet, Wet)
How many rain, or water related songs can you think of? “Why does it always rain on me?” by Travis obviously, “the Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond” is still watery and of course the entire back catalog of Wet, Wet, Wet, of which I can half remember a total of one song. One always imagines that during a long hike, weighty thoughts will be considered and wrestled with. The reality is however somewhat less earth shattering. Today’s thoughts included, “where can I buy a cheap umbrella?”, “I wonder if anyone has invented an umbrella attachment for a trekking pole?”, and “are the weight savings of buying a child’s umbrella outweighed by the probability that people will think I’m a weirdo?”. Everyone likes Spiderman right? When employed in umbrella form he does even more than a spider can!
Today was a largely tarmac deviation from my planned route on safety grounds. The official stage leads over a series of peaks, each of which is connected to the others by a continuous ridge of greater or lesser width and smoothness. With even the trees 50m above me in the valley being heavily obscured by cloud, tackling a 20km ridge walk with 1800m of ascent seemed as unwise as pointless. On account of the weather, sensible people were holed up inside, so at least the roads were quiet and there was no impediment to my caterwauling of water-themed ballads. Although I swear a cow rolled its eyes at my serenade earlier. Snooty beast.
On account of not being where I am supposed to be, tomorrow will be an excessively short walking day to reach my next hotel. The saving grace being that it has a swimming pool and sauna area to relax in. Spa holiday and long distance hiking don’t typically go hand-in-hand, but Europe is a very civilised place. Also, tomorrow is due for more rain, so being indoors in a hotel robe seems rather preferable to my rain gear and umbrella ensemble.
When attempting to sing, “I’m singing in the rain”, after the intro I always end up beginning “New York, New York”, by Frank Sinatra. Do they have similar tunes, or am I a cultureless lout? I don’t have WiFi right now to check.
Very good choice of umbrella, you look quite at home under there. Wise thinking not to tempt fate by trying the ridge. Some fast moving water in that river. Enjoy your spa day tomorrow, get dried out, and de-prune your toes.
It’s a shame about the weather but walking along the road looked nice too. The rain didn’t seem to dampen your spirits.
Sounds like a nice day despite the rain.