Today was 10 miles and 1,100′ of climbing.  Totals are 165 miles and 14,400′ climbed. Also another 1,400′ of descent.

We figured for an easier day today with only about 10 miles to walk and no major climb or descent. As such, we started later than normal.

Within a half a mile, we were joined by a few friends, and a few more

And more and …

Apparently, the race (remember yesterday’s blog? ) also included a community trail walk in which 100’s of people signed up for! It just happened to be going our way, so we joined along!  We started talking to folks and just fell right in! That is, except for the backpacks, and the clothes, and our language limitations. But hey, it was fun. After about a mile, the hoards went one way and we went another. Arrivederci!

We thought we’d make good time today as we weren’t doing major ups/downs, but we weren’t that lucky.

In this part of Italy, there are two factors that conspire against us doing good pacing.

The first is stone. We are now only about 20 miles away from Carrera, Italy. Besides Porsches, Carrera is a very famous brand of marble. There is stone, granite, and marble everywhere!  So, building a trail through the lush shrubbery is tough! Only a few inches below is probably stone.

Now, the second problem around here is rain. It rains a lot, and it rains hard! The result is that, everywhere the trail goes up or down, it is likely washed/ eroded out. And to prevent further erosion, the trail management will pour broken rocks over it!  The result is very unsteady footing and is usually worse on the steps slopes.

Hard to see, but this is about 15-18% pitch.

Now, when the trail isn’t going up or down (it’s level), all the water and dirt washes down to the flat section, creating mud

and pools.

We’re adapting. We now realize that even on these flat-ish stages, we’re only going to be able to walk 2 to 2.25 miles an hour. Okay, it’ll take longer, but we’ll still get there!

Ciao!