Day 12 – Vila Nova de Milfontes to Porto Covo

We made it!  We finished the Fisherman’s Trail.  Twelve stages, 19 days, and 200+ kilometers after leaving Lagos on the southern coast, we arrived in Porto Covo.  More important than the statistics, are the endless memories that will last us a lifetime.

This particular section was 20 km long and rated as “hard” primarily due to the deep and continuous sand that comprised over half of the route. We felt a little sad knowing this would be our last hike walking along the cliffs with the Atlantic Ocean as our constant companion.  The temperatures have been rising and the last few days found us walking in mid-80s heat.  We came across a group of six from Sweden whom were all in their late 60s / early 70s and learned that four of them were siblings whom get together regularly to hike.  Last year they walked the last 100 km of the Camino Frances.  They asked us if there was any food close by and we had to tell them they had at least 2 1/2 hours of walking ahead of them.  We offered them some of our food and after the obligatory declinations, they finally agreed to take one banana and our few remaining strawberries off our hands.  

Because we were expecting a long day in heat we paid to have one bag transferred to our next hotel.  It was a good call.  We packed Joe’s pack with all of our heavy gear (laptop, tablet, sandals, toiletries) and filled Julie’s with a few cloths, 10 pounds of water and a couple pounds of food.  There were no facilities until the very end of the hike so we needed to pack a lot of water.  We switched on and off carrying the pack and overall it was a very agreeable and relaxing hike — until the end.  Unfortunately, Joe’s Achilles and heel started to get very sore and the last couple miles were difficult for him.  Julie took back the beast of burden duties and brought us home.  

Arriving in Porto Covo, we booked a private room in a hostel that overlooks the ocean for three nights to relax, recover and plan for our next adventure — hiking the Portuguese Camino.