Distance: 5.5km
Ascent: 350m
Descent: 50m.
As we are all too aware, life is seldom a linear progression. We repeat mistakes until we learn. We retread the same ground.
And so at Chalet Pedro, almost out of cash and learning that while only cash is accepted there are no cash points in any of the upcoming towns, I made the decision to hitchhike back to St Jean Pied de Port. A dash for cash, if you like. I’d also noticed that I’d misplaced my antidepressants and you just can’t stop taking those things.
So after a couple of days back in St Jean, cashed up and dosed up, I lashed out and hired a taxi to take me back to the trail head for Chalet Pedro and resumed the trek up into the mountains …a bandit’s dream, but for being a Grandmaster in the ancient Lancastrian martial art of Eckythump.
Just a short stroll today to get back in the swing of things. Up through an oak and beech forest, giving way to fields of bracken fern, holly bush, wandering sheep and cows, and beyond that what will become a ski resort in a few short months.
