Day 50 – Espalion to Golinhac (28,1km) – Saturday 19.08.2023
Since the hotel doesn’t serve breakfast until 8 a.m. on weekends, I was able to sleep in. Afterwards I relaxed and went to the breakfast room and ate various things. After dinner I packed up the rest of my things and around 9 a.m. I left the hotel and started walking towards Golinhac.
The first few kilometers were mostly flat along the river, so I made quick progress. After a while, the first sweaty climb followed. Then I passed a small church and a place with many beautiful houses.
On the descent on the other side I met a pilgrim who I had already met yesterday at the hotel. The man from Australia had been on the Way of St. James for a few days, but today was his last day. Afterwards he wanted to go to the Pyrenees for a few days to run a longer trail from north to south. I walked with him for a while and we talked about various long-distance hiking trails. I told him about my trip so far and my future plans. He then told me about his previous hikes and recommended not only the Te Araroa Trail in New Zealand, which he had already hiked himself, but also the CDT (Continent Divide Trail) in the USA, which some of his friends had walked a few years ago. The now 67-year-old man had already gone on several major hikes in his life and somehow couldn’t stop.
After almost an hour of hiking together, he wanted to stop for a coffee and so we parted ways again.
I then continued along the river until I eventually reached Estaing. There I crossed the bridge to the city and was able to admire the magnificent castle complex.
In a small restaurant I ate a healthy salad for a change and drank a cold soda, which was very refreshing in the warm temperatures. Just as I was about to leave the city again, I met the Australian from before again and we talked briefly again before I finally said goodbye to him.
This was followed by a relatively flat route through the forest. So it was quite comfortable to walk despite 32 degrees.
But then this changed abruptly. Instead of the pleasant road, it suddenly went steeply uphill. At first I thought it was just a small climb and that meant I was running uphill relatively quickly. After a few minutes I noticed that it was going up and up and now I’m really sweating. The climb wasn’t supposed to stop so quickly and so I struggled up the mountain for a long time.
When I finally got to a watering hole, I was already completely soaked with sweat. There were already other pilgrims sitting at the water point who looked just as exhausted as I did. At least a pilgrim quickly showed me where I could get the cold water. So I filled my bottle with cold water and drank it straight away, then refilled it again.
After a short break, the descent began again on the other side of the mountain. After all, we walked through the shady forest for a long time. After a few more kilometers I started looking for a well again to fill up my water reserves for the night. Unfortunately, there was neither a drinking fountain nor any other way to refill my water for the following kilometers.
After a while I passed a small town where there was a campsite. I decided to set up my tent there. But first I passed a kiosk where I bought some ice cream. As I was eating this outside on the veranda, I struck up a conversation with a Frenchman from Paris. We both had to laugh at the fact that we had completely underestimated the climb up one mountain and had therefore arrived at the waterhole completely exhausted. After all, it wasn’t just me.
Afterwards we both went to the campsite and set up our tents. Afterwards I relaxed and jumped into the pool and later went to bed.
Day 51 – Golinhac to Noalihac (32km)- Sunday 20.08.2023
Tonight the temperatures didn’t drop below 20 degrees. As a result, I slept poorly. I stayed in bed in the pleasant 20 degrees in the morning until 7:30 a.m. Then I put everything together and quickly left the campsite.
The first few hours were relaxed uphill and downhill. After almost 10 kilometers I passed a place. I set up my gas stove on a park bench and made myself breakfast.
Then came the first real increase. When I reached the top after a few minutes, sweating, there were already a few pilgrims sitting in the shade and resting. Since I already knew some of them from the previous days, I gave them a friendly wave and continued walking. A little later I met a group of 3 pilgrims from France who were around my age and were on a long hike for the first time. I ran with them for a while and when two of them wanted to take a break, one of them continued running with me. It turned out he worked in the nuclear power industry and lived near Lyon. He himself has even been to Karlsruhe to visit friends. We talked about various topics. When we took a break at a waterhole after more than an hour, he wanted to wait there for his friends and I then walked down the mountain alone again.
I soon arrived in the lovely town of Conques.
There I visited the historic church with its well-known work of art above the entrance door.
When I sat down in a bar to have a quick drink, the guys from before arrived. They sit down with me and we order a beer to toast the end of their journey. After I finished my beer, I said goodbye to them and set off again because I wanted to walk a little further.
First it went downhill briefly and I crossed a small river.
This was followed by another steep climb through the forest, which quickly made me sweat at 34 degrees. It went uphill for a long time and when I finally passed a bench I lay down there for a few minutes to recover from the climb.
But since I hardly had any water left, I had to keep walking afterwards. Unfortunately, I left the forest on the plateau and walked for a few kilometers through pastures and meadows, which hardly offered me any shade.
When I finally passed a place, I even found a drinking water fountain next to the town’s cemetery. There I quickly drank 2 liters of water and refilled my bottles again. Shortly after I started walking again, I even passed an open kiosk. There I bought myself a Snikers and a cold beer. Then I quickly left the place to look for a suitable place to sleep further out.
I briefly passed a small chapel, which was generally very simply built, but had two very impressive windows.
There were endless cattle pastures next to the chapel and I quickly found an open entrance. I walked a little way down the meadow and sat down, exhausted, in the shade of a tree. In the meantime I had covered 32km with almost 1000 meters of ascent and descent in temperatures of 37 degrees. Although I was more or less used to such distances by now, the heat was getting to me and so I was even happier when I was able to enjoy my cold beer with a beautiful view.
Later I cooked myself something to eat and as the sun slowly started to set, I set up my tent on a flat spot. Afterwards I relaxed and watched the sunset.
Day 52 – Noalihac to Livinhac-le-Haut (16,9km)- Monday 21.08.2023
Today the night was again very warm and I longed for the nights on the higher mountains. Although I had temperatures of 12 degrees almost a week ago, the temperature no longer dropped much below 20 degrees, even at night.
When I got up at 6:30 and took down my tent, I was rewarded by a beautiful sunrise.
With all my things in my backpack, I ran back to the path and sat down next to it to make my morning coffee and muesli. I enjoyed the view for a bit and set off again later.
For a long time the path led along the ridge of the mountain and so I had a beautiful view of the surrounding area throughout.
I completed the subsequent descent quickly and thus completed my first 10 kilometers early. But the temperatures slowly rose and shortly after 11 it was 32 degrees again. I sit down briefly at a rest stop for pilgrims to plan my next route. Due to the exertion of the last few days and the increasingly bad heat, I didn’t want to go on too long a tour today.
As it turned out, I was already close to a smaller town that many pilgrims use as a stopover destination.
Since there were no major towns for a long time afterwards and my food reserves were unfortunately empty, I couldn’t continue walking without food. Unfortunately, many shops in France are closed at lunchtime and that was the case here too. The only supermarket in town didn’t open again until 4 p.m. and the bakery was already closed. So I decided to go to one of the campsites shortly after 1 p.m. and enjoy the rest of the time in the pool, which was a real relief in these temperatures. In between, I washed my clothes again and took a nap.
Even though I hadn’t actually covered much distance that day, I was still happy to be able to go for a swim in the cold water. Especially with the outlook for the next few days, today’s relaxing day will definitely be good for my body.
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