In life there are surprises. Both good ones and bad ones. Part of the fun of doing something you have never done before is the surprise. Will it turn out great . . . or a disaster? Whether that disaster is good or bad depends on your reaction to it.
“The difference between an Ordeal and Adventure is . . . Attitude.”
Hopefully by now you are beginning to wonder. Was their day today great or a disaster? Read on faithful insomniacs.
We were up at 7:00am, breakfast of yogurt and the last few slices of a loaf of bread purchased yesterday. The temperature outside was a brisk 42° with an off shore breeze, making for a cold morning. We both had all our warm clothes on. We headed out our door about 8:15am with 11.4 miles in front of us, although that distance did not agree with other sources that had it as high as 14 miles. The trail starts right from town. Wander down the streets, past the restaurant we had fries and drinks at last night and out onto the coast trail. Our expectations were sky high. We were not disappointed!
For the next 13 miles we followed the trail down a deserted coastline. Only one seaside eatery mares it’s wildness. The shoreline is sheer rock cliffs and promontories with beautiful golden sand beaches nestled in between. The surf was up, with waves pounding the shoreline nonstop every step of the way. The sky was cloudless. As the day progressed the temperature climbed to the lower 60s and soon we were in our short sleeves, lathered with sun screen. The views just kept getting better as we went, with a stork nest on a high tower of rock, sea arches, pounding surf invading caverns and a carpet of flowers decorating the sides of the trail as we walked. 13 absolutely gorgeous miles. How is it that this coastline has escaped development? Let us hope it stays that way.
We had 6 miles done by noon. We found a nice beach overlook to sit in the sand and enjoy our rolls, cheese, sliced meat, bananas and ketchup flavored potato chips (yes, that is a real thing. No, Sally hated them. I loved them).
Our expectation was 11.4 miles. Maybe as high as 12 as recorded on my watch as we walked. But as the day slipped by it became apparent it was going to be a bit more. More beautiful coastline to enjoy you might be thinking. True. But in the title for today’s post I included the word “bad”. What could possibly be bad? In a word - sand.
Of the 13.4 miles, we ended up walking, fully 6 or 7 on loose ankle deep beach sand. Trudge through, slog through, slide on, beach sand. It made our 13.4 miles feel more like 20. On the downhill sections it wasn’t too bad, but the uphills in sand were at times arduous. 4 or 5 times during the day we stopped to have Sally pour the sand out of her shoes. Each time at least 2 to 3 tablespoons were ejected. How did she have room for her feet in there with all the sand? My shoes have a tighter weave in the fabric on top so very little sand made it’s way in. Her loose weave “let your feet breathe” fabric welcomed the sand through its pours. We both had on gaiters. The sand was not getting in through the top of our shoes.
We had hoped to get to Villa Nova de Milfontes by 4:00pm, but it was not to be. We were so glad to see a solid surface to walk on when we reached the outskirts of this beautiful town. And pavement!! Newton’s third law propelled us forward instead of us propelling sand backwards. We’ve never been so thankful for pavement. We stopped at the first small store to buy groceries for tomorrow just incase this small town closed up early. More rolls, cheese, yogurt, sodas and an ice cream cone. We used Apple Maps to guide us to our hotel for the night, the Blue Bamboo. I had texted them about an hour ago to let them know we would arrive at 5:00pm. It is the off season and they don’t have a receptionist sitting all day for guests that don’t exist. We dragged in at 5:04pm to find a beautiful woman of 55 sitting behind the counter. We got into a conversation with this vivacious, outgoing and delightful person. It took us well over half an hour to get to our room as we learned about her birth in Washington DC, her upbringing in Brazil, her own child’s birth in Kansas, her divorce, her love of dancing, her impending second marriage, health care in Portugal and her employment here in Vila Nova de Milfontes. Although we were footsore and ready to relax, we truly enjoyed exchanging stories about our different lives and backgrounds.
Heat up and on in our room, sand poured out of shoes and shaken out of socks on our small balcony, quick showers and we were out the door and on our way to the Supermercado for groceries and the pizza place for dinner. Both met and exceeded our needs and we were back at our hotel just before 8:00pm and got to wish Anna Cruz a pleasant life as she got off work.
Once in our room we collapsed in our beds (twin beds tonight), watched the news about the earthquake in Turkey and Seria, broke up our 14+ mile day scheduled for Thursday into two 7 mile days, wrote a bit and then called it a wonderful, yet exhausting day.
Sally celebrates getting on the trail with Porto Covo in the background.
Part of the trail near Porto Covo is líned with rope.
Surf, sand and sun. Rocky shoreline and beautiful sandy beaches.
Only once did we actually walk on the beach. The rest of the time we were on the bluff above the shoreline.
Looking back at our starting point, Porto Covo.
Stork nest on rock pillar.
Sally pours the sand from her shoes.
Sand
More rocky coast.
Looking back at where we came from.
Big waves.
6 miles of soft sand, but beautiful sea.
Our hotel in Villa Nova de Milfontes.
Our $40 room in Vila Nova de Milfontes. Prices vary widely, but going cheap doesn’t mean sketchy accommodations.
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