Espalion to Golinhac

Greetings from one very tired hiker.  It rained all day and what you are seeing in the background are clouds touching the trail.

Today was very steep and seemed to have a lot more up than down.   At one point I had the hardest ascent that I have ever had to climb.  (I know, the hardest one is always the one you are currently climbing but not in this case)  It would have been a struggle in any case but what differentiated this one was this awful boot-sucking, wet, muddy Georgia red clay.  Slippery as a bar of soap in the shower.  On a good day, I would have had to scramble (hiker lingo for having to use your hands and feet to climb upwards) but scrambling on slick mud made this the hardest mile of my life. It took me over an hour of extreme effort to go 1.1miles. I was covered with mud but with the rain, most of it washed off. Thank goodness the other 16 miles wasn't as bad.  Today's total is 17.1 miles.

I thought this was such a pretty cross.

This town was so scenic that it could have been a movie set for villages in France.

And even a castle a few kilometers later. I would love to have explored this town but too many miles ahead.

In spite of the steady rain, this was the prettiest day of the hike (so far)

For a long while, I walked along a gorgeous and quite impressive river.  I saw my first two magpies.  It must be the mating season because all of the birds seemed to be flying in twos, chasing each other.

More scenery. I also saw an eagle and at least three hawks.

Spring is blooming.

I thought this was heartwarming.  Evidently, for years this old man sat by the roadside and greeted the pilgrims and answered questions.  He passed away and this was his memorial.

Some stunning trails.  I had lots of them today and not so much road work (hiking lingo for walking on the highway). It was so peaceful on the trails with only the sound of the rain pinging my poncho. And it smelled so fresh.

So many mountains and I climbed up and over two of them without much descent.

This bright green moss was so unusual on the silvery trees.  Probably not good for them but very attractive.

Plenty of forest land.

Finally, after trudging the last three miles I reached Golinhac.  This is a carving of Santiago as the Spanish call him or Saint Jacques as the French call him.  I would love to walk around this town but it is so cold that I may not.  Everything is closed up here.

My hotel is located at the top of the mountains.

  I wanted to sing the hallelujah chorus but I was too tired. I don't think I drank enough water today because it is so hard to get to food or water in full rain and cold gear. And it was cold.  It didn't snow like what was predicted earlier in the week but the damp just seems to crawl into my layers of clothes and stay there. There were no bars along the way so even stopping for a few minutes was difficult because there is no dry place to sit your gear.  Ahhhhh...the joys of hiking in cold rain. But in spite of all this, the scenery was breath-taking magnificent.

If this makes no sense, consider me pooped.  More rain tomorrow--maybe.

It is almost time for dinner and I am ravenous so until demain...Bon soir.