Assisi d4 / An eventful day…

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Today was a tough day’s walking. Probably the toughest I’ve ever walked.

It was always going to be a hard walk today – 26km over a couple of very high hills, or mountains, whichever way you wish to describe them – and down some very rocky precipitous descents.

Tricky.

But what made it tough had nothing to do with any of that. That was all completely manageable.

No, what made it tough was that the track was blocked by a washout about 3kms into the day’s walk. There was no way we could get through.

There was fallen timber blocking our way – a barrier that was not possible to get past.

We thought that perhaps there was a track higher up the mountain, which would allow us to get past the blockage – so I set off up an almost vertical hillside to see if there was indeed a track up the top.

I went by myself because if there was no track, then we would all have to come back down again, and it would be extremely difficult.

It was a very hard climb up. And when I got to a ledge where I could safely stand, I looked around and could see no track.

I could also see that it was impossible to get back down. The wall that I’d climbed up was almost concave. It wasn’t possible for me to safely get down.

The only way was up.

And so I climbed, hoping to find a track further up the mountainside – a track that would allow us to get past the blocked track below.

I’ sorry – I  can’t finish this story now. It’s too late – we got in at about 6pm after leaving at 9:30am this morning – and now I have to hit the sack.

Tomorrow is an easier day – plus we’re being joined tomorrow by Ivan the Terrible and his Beautiful Wife Giovanna. They will be walking with us for three or four days.

I’m so looking forward to that. They are wonderful people.

Right now though, after today, I’m totally knackered, and need to sleep. So I will continue this saga tomorrow.

Just to add though that today all of us collected extraordinary memories which we’ll never forget. Yes it was a tough day, but it was glorious, so much fun, we laughed and laughed, and dare I say it, the day turned out triumphant.

More tomorrow…

tree on hill

16 thoughts on “Assisi d4 / An eventful day…”

  3. That’s not an easy situation — but really, with a group, the only sensible option is to backtrack and find another route.

    Sure it’s often possible to force your way through woodland, but except on rare occasions that will be more tiring and time-consuming than a backtrack.

    And hmmmmm, when you’re on a less-travelled Way like that one, these sorts of unexpected obstacles are always a possibility ; unlike the well-tended pathways of the Camino.

    But do keep in mind that there are fewer paths generally in Italy than France or Spain, so if the primary route is blocked, it’s often the case that there will be no alternative route available without backtracking.

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  5. Bill, you just simply can’t do a walk the easy way, eh? Well since you were able to tell us all about it, you must have found a way down…. you sure love cliffhangers… hehehe 😉

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  6. Bear Grylls would have made a parachute from his underpants and jumped off the mountain to safety!

    Come on Bill – you’re letting your standards drop!

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