Day 8 Ponte de Lima to Rubeias Laura

This is Laura’s version of this day. Wendy made this day sound so easy, but today we earned our title of badass. Ponte de Lima is beautiful, but the only way out of the valley is over a mountain. It was Sunday, so everything was closed. No stopping for coffee or food. We walked through some farmland and into forest. There was a mixture of eucalyptus and pine trees. The trail became a real dirt and rock trail and we headed up. It was really quite steep. Wendy charged ahead and I dragged behind. Anyone who has ever hiked with me knows how I hate hills and I slow to a snail’s pace. We ran into Cheryl, a friend from Toronto we met at Fernanda’s. She walked slowly with me for the rest of the day. We walked alongside a river for a bit and continued up. The pictures really don’t do justice to how steep and rocky it was. Cheryl and I would take fifty steps up and take a break to breathe. I was really glad to have hiking poles at this point. Every time we thought we had reached an area that would level out, the trail continued up even more steeply. At one point we passed a tour group going down to an area with a cross. We popped up over the edge and they all started clapping for us. It was encouraging. Wendy was waiting for us at the top next to a sign that said Taxi. We all laughed at that. Heading down, the trail was rocky or had cobblestones. After about another mile, my feet had had it. Cheryl’s knee was bothering her so we decided to call an Uber to come get us. Uber couldn’t find a driver, so Cheryl called Marlene, who ran the place she was staying. She came and found us. She asked where I was staying, and when I told her she laughed and said that was her sister’s place and it was too far away, so we should stay with her. She called her sister to come and get us. Then she fed us warm baked apples and pancakes and lemon verbena tea from leaves in her garden. We hadn’t eaten since the morning, so it was much appreciated. Finally our ride came and we headed to our hotel. I was exhausted and decided to take the next day off.Read more