Stage 15: Bolsena to Montefiascone

16.1 kilometers
Elevation gain/loss: 700m/450m
Steps: 23,459
Total distance traveled: 283.3km
Distance to Rome: 126.6km

Because we had only 17 kilometers to cover today, we got off to a bit of a late start at 7:45, thinking we could finish in under five hours.
Oops!

This was by far the most difficult stage of the camino so far with a never-ending string of long steep hills, both up and down. By kilometer ten, I was ready to cry uncle. In the end, I carried on, but cut out a couple of the church-viewing detours on the official route.

Although the trek was brutally difficult, the scenery was magnificent. It started with several different views of Lake Balseno, and then we meandered through grove after grove of olive trees. In the forested sections, areas of the ground were covered in even more cyclamens than we saw yesterday.

Not far into the walk, we learned there would be a mountain bike race taking place today, right along the paths we were walking. When the racers reached us, we had just ascended a very steep, very rocky hill. These riders barely slowed down before plunging down that very same hill at breakneck speeds. And, to boot, many of the riders were not spring chickens. Very impressive.

The last part of our hike took us through a pasture filled with a flock of grazing sheep and lambs, and another pasture with a herd of goats. Last but not least, our path was lined for quite a distance with the first vineyards we've seen since leaving Tuscany.Read more