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Journal: |
I woke up frequently during the night, but on each occasion just
rolled over and went back to sleep. I delayed getting out of my
warm, but somewhat damp from condensation bivvy sack and sleeping
bag, until the sun had almost reached me at 7am. I then packed
up slowly, with a lot of wet and damp stuff, and was on the trail at
7:45, without about 8km to Sospel where there would be food and
drink. The weather was fine, and again my route followed old
laneways alongside old stone walls in the cool and damp woods.
It was magic. I reached Sospel about 9:30am and had a look
around and twice bought food and drink for breakfast. I also
bought a supply of Coke and chocolate to see me through to the next
town, Moulinet.
There was a chance I could make Col de Turini, my original goal
for tonight, but I was effectively starting very late and was sure
that there was some payback due from my body after the exertions of
yesterday. From the busy tourist town (quite a few touring
cyclists passing through), I began my climb to Baisse de Liniere
(1342m) and was soon regretting not bringing more drink with me.
The climb, which was along pretty trail and a reasonable grade (most
of the time), was relentless. It pretty much went up 1,000m
without any flat bits and the further I went, the more tired and
thirsty I was. Nevertheless, the scenery was spectacular and
provided a good excuse for momentary stops during the ascent.
By now it had cooled down and ominous looking clouds were close
overhead. By the I reached the Baisse, which turned out to be
a very pretty alpine pasture, I had decided that it made sense to
finish early in Moulinet and give myself some recovery time. I
was now in the Mercantour National Park and the descent from the
Baisse arced around the side of a massive valley with the Paion
gorges visible in the distance. Although relatively remote,
there was evidence of past agriculture with remains of buildings and
stone fences and terraces built into the steep hillside. It
was quite atmospheric thinking that someone had once carved an
existence in this remote spot.
The last part of the descent to Moulinet (801m) was quite steep
on switchbacks and my feet and knees were calling for mercy.
Finally, after crossing a few very pretty rushing streams I walked
into the town square of Moulinet at 3:15. There was a map on
the wall and the only accommodation seemed to be a Gite for
Randonneurs marked at the town hall. I found my way there and
ascended to the very quiet office and was then led up to the loft by
a helpful woman where there was a very large and modern looking
hostel. I enjoyed my shower and spread all of my damp gear out
to dry, before paying the 14 Euro fee and exploring the
town/village. There was nowhere to buy food or anything.
Despite the very pretty narrow winding streets and historic
buildings, it had the feeling of a ghost town and the baker and
butcher looked long-closed, and plenty of places for sale. I
returned to the Gite hoping that maybe at least one of the three
very closed bistros might open in the evening. I went for a
long walk around the town soon after 6pm, but nothing was open so I
returned to the Gite, where I was the only guest, resigned to having
a chocolate bar and water for dinner. I plan to leave early in
the morning and get some breakfast at Col de Turini, about a 3 hour
hike away.
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