18 miles. Check.

This morning was quite cold. We had an 18 mile day planned. We hit the road at 6:05 and quickly put down three miles. Considering it was just after 7:00 there was nothing open in the first village we came to. I was cold, so I zipped up on the pant legs to my convertible shorts. This was the first day I wore long pants and rolled down the sleeves on my shirt. Normally if it’s a little chilly when we first start out, I’m warm within the first 15 minutes. Even when trucking down the road today, I was on the verge of being cold.

The sky was overcast. As we cruised down the trail the skies cleared to partly cloudy. The clouds were huge and puffy. Giant cotton balls in the sky.

puffy clouds

We climbed out of the farm lands and into a pine forest. The scenery was a welcome change. Under the canopy of trees, beautiful ferns grew. The landscape reminded Molli and Tony of Sedona.

walked through ferns all morning.

We flew down the trail today. We all felt really good. We averaged a 3 mile per hour hiking pace. I walked alone about 3/4 of the way. Tony and I chatted here and there. Molli likes to hike in silence. I spent a good deal of time contemplating the future. What path to take. What the future might bring. I set a few small goals for myself.

Our biggest day thus far seemed to come easy. Tomorrow our mileage drops down to 14. Will be a nice recovery day. Pretty funny when you can look at a 14 mile day as a recovery day.

My feet were tired when we arrived in Agés but nothing like the soreness I’ve experienced recently. They seem to be on the mend. Tony gave me an exercise to do to help work out the issue. My foot pain seems to be emanating from an issue in my back. No real surprise there. From one round of exercises, my foot pain all but disappeared. Fantastic stuff. It’s been nicknamed TFM. Or Total Effing Magic. I agree, it’s pretty much is magic.

We are staying in a hostel tonight in Agés. Agés is a sleepy little town with a population of 35. Being so small; there isn’t much to do outside of rest. This is probably just the ticket after our longest day on the trail yet.