I mentioned yesterday that I didn’t know if this much hiking was making me stronger or just more tired. I still don’t know, but both feelings are even more intense after today’s 11 miles. I don’t remember the elevation stats and I’m too tired to look them up, but I think it was pretty close to 3,000 ft each way.
The highlight of the hike was a stop at Bovine for peach tart and peach, apple, and apricot cake. The food was delicious, but it was raining as it did for most of the day today, so we didn’t stay long.
Honesty, this was pretty low on my favorite stages. The views were mostly of pine trees as we walked through forrest as opposed to the mountains we’ve had for most of the trip. I actually commented at one point about how much this section looked like Colorado.
When we made it to the refuge I took a long hot shower. Showers are very hit or miss on this trip. Two refuges gave us a token that allowed for four minutes of hot water, the nice hotel we stayed at in Courmayer had a beautiful stone tub, but the ceiling was only 4 feet high, so a shower wasn’t an option. Yesterday’s hotel was fine, but the head was placed in the middle of the tub which made it hard to get a good angle. Today’s was perfect though. Hot, spacious, clean. I kind of want another now.
My feet hurt, my legs hurt, my hips hurt, my shoulders hurt. It also feels really good to know we’ve come this far. We’ve also walked every step so far. No cable cars, lifts, busses, or taxis. I’m so proud of all of us for pushing through the discomfort and pain. Three more days to go!
