Day 214. 57km (81852kms 7yrs)
My tent - already damp when I climbed in last night - was this morning drenched. On the outside anyway, in my warm dry cocoon I contemplated the day ahead without relish.
During a brief pause in the drizzle I was able to get packed down almost completely before it restarted. The first the 15km, 600m descent from the clouds was just a little damp, and although I couldn’t see any views, the scenes of mist climbing up the forest were lovely.
In town I found a Spar, discreetly plugging in two power banks into an outdoor socket. My dynamo’s USB port is no longer functional so without sunny weather for my solar panel I’m back to being tethered to outlets. Hoping to warm up under the jet of a hand dryer in the toilets I was disappointed - bathrooms here seem to favour paper towels. As I ate my sandwich a group of 15 or so cheery young male hikers arrived. I was astonished at how upbeat they all were! Surely they’re as cold and damp as me? Perhaps it’s the group effect keeping them chipper.
Todays only significant climb was a long and gentle one up to Col De Vaccia at 1191m. At just 3 or 4% it was enough to keep me warm without exhausting me, but with no view and too wet to have my phone out for podcasts, just a bit tedious. This time crossing the pass the weather improved; almost immediately I emerged beneath the cloud line to a view - downwards at least - of a forested valley. But towards the bottom of this 12km 400m descent the rain began again, soaking to me to the bone. Fingers too clumsy and numb to properly brake or press the GoPro on off button, it was a sodden, miserable-looking figure who walked into the cafe with a GT20 board outside. The owner brought me a towel and a blanket so quickly he must keep them on hand for exactly this purpose. Here I charged a powerbank (free), used the wifi, and ate a delicious hot salty cheesy English muffiny type thing called a sciaccia (pronounced something like cheecha). I later learned not only are they Corsican, but belong specifically to this region so I’m unlikely to eat one again sadly.
Once more the sun emerged as I shivered a and dried out in the cafe. Pleased to learn at 45kms I’d already just about hit my daily target I wanted nothing more than to find a nice camp early enough to dry my things. Today another ungated entrance invited me into a field with one long forgotten goal post, backed by a small bank of lush mossy woods. Tolkienesque and absolute perfection I hung the wet tent up between lichen covered trees, and boulders so thoroughly covered in moss they resembled giant green cushions.
Once inside I cracked my first bottle of French wine, which went marvellously with the last of the blue cheese. It’s so important to have something nice to look forward to in the tent after a tough day. And as the weather seems to be on the turn, as is my mood towards Corsica..
#corsica #cycling #travel
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