Wednesday
afternoon we hiked 5 miles up the mountain to the water tower above Biltmore
Lake and back down to Black Horse Run in 3 hours. Thursday it was 4 miles on groomed hilly trails at the
Arboretum. Today was 5 miles of
the Mountain to Sea trail off the Blue Ridge Parkway nearby. All in an effort
to get in shape for a 7-day walking tour in northern Portugal coming up in
another week. Unlike most people
our age, we opted for a self- guided walking tour in the Douro Valley along the
Douro River and not a comfortable
and luxurious Viking River cruise.
Something active, outdoorsy, and adventuresome, we thought to celebrate
our 70th year. This has
pushed us more than usual to be ready to handle what will be walking an average
of 8 to 10 miles a day at a leisurely pace with stops along the way and plenty
of scenery of vineyards and quintas
that grow the grapes for some of the finest port wines in the world.
As we walked along
the Blue Ridge trail today passing an occasional runner, dog walker, or fellow
hiker and offering a polite ”good morning” and we would get a “how’re y’all
doin’ ” in return. I imagined how it will feel to be hiking the vineyards of
northern Portugal and was practicing my bom
dia or boa tarde followed by como vai voce (how are you) that I would casually say to someone we
might pass along the way. As the
morning sun came through the new green leaves on the trees lighting up patches
here and there of blue wildflowers – dwarf violet irises, and wood violets, I
tried to picture the more wild countryside of Portugal I am reading about. We will hike through olive groves,
vineyards, cork-oak woods and up some rugged hillsides coming occasionally to a
small village and ending each day at a country inn along the way. We will carry our instructions
meticulously prepared by Inn Travel (a UK travel company with a logo “The Slow Holiday People”) as
we follow landmarks to get us from one point to the next. No tour bus, no guide, and no group to
travel with. Just us on our own
with our best map reading skills, a camera, and hopefully some Portuguese that
lies dormant in me, as I once was fluent in high school in Brazil.
When not out
hiking, we are checking lists of what to take or making frequent visits to REI,
Frugal Backpacker, and Diamond Brand to pick up one last thing. We have new Platypus collapsible water
bottles, nifty rain ponchos from Amazon, a compass that includes a whistle in
case we are in distress and a thermometer to check the outdoor temperature, a
Timex pedometer, L.L. Bean head flashlights, and lightweight, carefully
researched day packs we hope everything will fit in. With my new North Face
windbreaker, super Oboz hiking shoes, wicking shirts, Thorlo socks, and Ex-Officio
travel underwear, how can anything go wrong?. We’ve had a trial packing session
to see if carryon luggage will work and it will. We plan to travel light.
We have traveled
all our lives to exotic places. Twenty
years ago we did a 3-day trek with a guide in northern Thailand, hiking up mountains
through bamboo forests, and sleeping in rustic Karen villages, river rafting
and riding elephants and with no North Face, Patagonia, or Ex Officio…no
wicking or easy dry anything….just our old clothes and some walking shoes and a
sense of adventure. I must admit
that all the amassing of “gear” has been a new experience, that of delving into
the world of “stuff” we never thought we needed but suddenly find ourselves
buying and loving.
Anticipating a
trip is part of the travel experience. Trying out our new clothing, gadgets, and
backpacks is all part of the fun of getting closer to departure day. I imagine us in northern Portugal not
only exclaiming about the scenery, language, food, and adventure of it all but over
how clever we are this time to have the perfect gear to go along with it. Trial
packing, shopping, list making, and reading lead to the excitement of
going. We’ll be ready for our
Portuguese adventure but I remind myself that trips can take unpredictable twists
and turns... no matter how prepared we are we should expect the unexpected
along the way. Those will be the stories we’ll tell when we come home. Stay
tuned for more…
http://www.inntravel.co.uk/holidays/walking-holidays/Portugal/Valley-of-Gold?tab=itinerary
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