Today was a difficult day, not just because of the 22 km (14 mi) and 3200 ft of climbing, but also because there were several treacherous downhill sections that were rocky and gravelly making it easy to slide down and fall. It took me an awfully long time to get through these sections—I cautioned on the safe side.
Needless to say, I took lots of little breaks to keep from overheating and getting dehydrated. I also met two groups from Austria (a twosome and a threesome). Everyone was struggling with parts of the trail today. Luckily it wasn’t too hot and much of the hike was shaded.
The destination town was nearly vertical and navigating through it to the hotel was a challenge. My app, MapOut, was running nearly the whole time through town because there were so many tight turns. To get to the hotel, one had to pass totally through town and come back up a ways on the other side. The innkeeper overwhelmed me with hospitality—within minutes after checking into the room she brought me a liter of chilled water and a 20 oz beer with potato chips. I finished all of it after which I fell asleep in a swing on the balcony.
Comments on Pictures:
I dreaded going down that rocky, gravely path. And there were times the path seemed to disappear. View of the town of Poggio Bustone from our common balcony at the hotel. Notice the raviolis—4”x 4”!!!