An adventure off trail

Adventure is worthwhile in itself, Amelia Earhart

I followed Sylvia off trail to see more of the coast and some general sightseeing.

We saw the Phillips Cousteau outdoor museum, a coal mine museum and we poked around a beautiful, long deserted home or hotel. The trail led us up and down to beach towns with families on vacation.

Eventually we hit a dead end, but instead of heading back I ventured down a very steep trail/gulley. I’m not sure Sylvia loved that. We ended up scooting down one part on our bums and we were very dirty by the end. But the reward was a black sand beach, mostly to ourselves. A few vacationers here and there and all were naked, which always kind of surprises me.

We had a snack and got into the surf to wash up as well. I guess it ended up being convenient that the Spanish hang out on beaches naked. It was a first for me, but I have to say kind of liberating to just not care.

After washing up and snacks we walked on, and Sylvia realized she had read her map wrong, turns out we didn’t need to come down to the beach. Haha, there was no going back the way we came, so we rerouted and walked about 4 kilometers down the beach. We walked in the waves and it was great but toward the end of the walk we would occasionally take a step and sink to our knees! It was weird. Also whatever material it is that makes the black sand gets super hot so when the cold water washes up it creates a fog. People would just seem to appear out if the fog. At the very end we had to go across dry sand to a rock wall. We had to drop and sit before the end to save our feet, it was so hot. We recovered and ran the last part . I’m sure that was a sight to see, two middle aged gals running with huge back packs.

I got a couple of blisters and so much sand in them, I keep telling myself it’s probably medicinal, because it was just about impossible to get my feet clean later. I did the best I could, sprayed them with antiseptic and put some compeed on and I’m going to try to forget about them!

Also I think one of my toenails is about to fall off, ugh.

Sylvia said we should hitchhike back to the Camino trail. I was game, but then we ended up in a very chic vacation town so we stopped for wine and a snack. I felt better and wanted to walk. But if Sylvia had flagged someone I would have jumped in. It was a pretty swanky area, I don’t think it would be worked even if she had tried.

We ended up walking over 20 miles on what was going to be an easy day for me. but still somehow it was my favorite day so far. It was surprising and unexpected. I think that’s what charged me up so much. How can I cultivate that feeling in my life?