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Searching for Snowdrops… the little flower that heralds the beginning of the end of winter. Every year I wait anxiously for my first glimpse of the first perennials that remind me that the days are getting longer now. After two years of living in Bristol, I know where to look for them to start blooming. …
Easter Holidays in Snowdonia National Park Probably one of the best memories of the year was the four nights Taido, Simon and I spent over the Easter Holidays last spring in Snowdonia. Snowdonia is in Northern Wales. I’ve mentioned that we can hop over the Bristol Channel and go hiking in Wales in just over …
Day 5 on the Rota Vicentina The Fisherman’s Trail Vila do Bispo to Cabo de San Vincente 14.5 km/9 miles You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. We all woke up well-rested and happy for our final day on the trail. The breakfast at our guest house, Pure Fonte Velha in Vila …
Day 4 on the Rota Vicentina The Fisherman’s Trail Carrapateira to Vila do Bispo 16 km/9.6 miles You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. On Day 4, we had a decision to make. The Rota Vicentina is a network of trails. Sometimes all the trails converge and there is only one trail, …
Day 3 on the Rota Vicentina The Fisherman’s Trail Arrifana to Carrapateira 20 km/12.4 miles You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. Day 3 started with some happy faces because we had a beautiful breakfast at the Utopia Guest House and another day of sunshine! We walked a while to get …
Day 2 on the Rota Vicentina The Fisherman’s Trail Praia de Monte Clerigo to Arrifana 13 km/7 miles You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. I woke up before everyone else on our second walking day. (It’s always an advantage not to have jet lag.) We didn’t need to get an …
Part Two of the Rota Vicentina The Fisherman’s Trail Odeceixe de Praia to Aljezur 20 km/12.5 miles You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. As soon as I got home from walking about half the Rota Vicentina with my sister in January, I wrote to three of my friends who were …
Day 4 of the Rota Vicentina The Fisherman’s Trail Zambujeira do Mar to Odeceixe 18.5 km/11.4 miles You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. Rain was predicted on our last day of walking the Rota Vicentina, but the host at Hostel Nature told us that it would not rain. He was …
Day 3 of the Rota Vicentina The Fisherman’s Trail Almogarve to Zambujeira do Mar 22 km/13.6 miles You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. I woke up on our third day of walking the Rota Vicentina thinking we couldn’t possibly have ANOTHER day as gorgeous as the previous two. It was just …
Day 2 of the Rota Vicentina The Fisherman’s Trail Vila de Nova Milfontes to Almograve 15.5 km/9.6 miles You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. After a substantial breakfast at our hostel in Vila de Nova Milfontes, we headed back out onto the coastal trail. We had a shorter day …
Day 1 of the Rota Vicentina The Fisherman’s Trail Porto Covo to Vila de Nova Milfontes 20 km/12.5 miles Anna and I arrived in Porto Covo in the dark on a bus from Lisbon to begin our journey on the Rota Vicentina. It was a chilly January evening and we wandered the streets to find …
Friends, this is the end of my Mini Walking Stories Series. Thanks so much for coming along with me! It’s been fun to revisit so many wonderful walking memories while it’s been so cold and rainy outside! I’ll leave you with a long string of photos of many of the folks I got to walk …
Training for Switzerland in Wales When Taido planned our Switzerland trip, he let us all know that it was going to be hard. Really hard. And he kept saying it. Once someone texted that they had climbed up Pinnacle Mountain as a training hike, and he texted back: Great. Now go back up two more times. …
Learning To Read Ordinance Survey Maps I was first introduced to OS Maps when we lived in Scotland. When we would go hiking with other families, someone would bring along a paper Ordinance Survey Map, usually in a plastic square waterproof case that they wore around their necks. When the kids were in secondary …
Picking Blackberries I get so excited when I start to see berries on the trail. And it’s even more fun when I am walking with someone who shares my enthusiasm for picking them. This past summer, we found blueberries, blackberries and raspberries on the Via Alpina. And blackberries were absolutely everywhere along our summer hikes …
Life Goals Taido and I say to each other all the time that we want to keep hiking well into our old age. Then this summer, only a few days into the Via Alpina, I was starting to think thoughts like: I think this might be my last serious mountain climb. It’s time for me …
Love On The Camino Walking long days can push you to your edge. So when you’re walking long days with other people, sometimes everyone’s edges bump up against one another. But more often, what comes out is something beautiful. Someone will have a blister, and someone else will have exactly what they need. Or someone …
Pilgrim Blessing Hey y’all, do you think you can all be ready in an hour to walk to Santo Antonio church together for the pilgrim blessing? We had just finished a long day of walking, but I had read about a pilgrim’s mass at a church in Barcelos that I wanted to attend. I told …
Something you might already know about me is that I like to travel light. It’s a point of pride for me to leave home for weeks at a time with only my trusty blue 24 liter backpack. Sometimes when I’m walking with a group, I find that supplemental things I carry – a first aid …
Walking Along The River Avon The River Avon runs right through the middle of Bristol and on out to Avonmouth, which is obviously, the mouth of the river. Since the river leads to the sea, the Avon is tidal. Some parts of the day it just looks like an emptied out basin of mostly mud. …