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18 September 2026 - Golinhac

Tonight I am atop a hill in Golinhac at a campground which has a pool that is sadly closed for the year. The possibilty drew me here, but seeing a bunch of people I've met along the way led me to stay. It was nice to have a long hot shower and be able to hang my clothes up to dry as well. I have 237 kilometers left and nine days to walk it in. My confidence is spurred by my progress so far meeting expectations. I took my "rest days" at the beginning though to run the race in Ambérieu though, so there is not a lot of margin for error.

Talking to a couple Frenchmen today the topic of my overly large bag came up as it often does and rather than justify it as usual with my love of books, I opted to point out "Who choses to walk 500 kilometers across France? Who choses to walk 500 kilometers across France with a 25 kilogram pack? They both have the same answer."

Of course I started the day pulling wet clothes out of a bag and letting my body heat dry them again. So glad they were able to dry out tonight before I went to bed. With cars zipping by I was up before 7 and heading out along the busy road. Fortunately it was only a couple kilometers before the trail left the busy road, but then it was to ascend yet another entirely unnecessary steep hill. C'est la vive. Fields and forests again and, like the last hill, some decent views of the valley belong. I managed to rip a piece of my shoe's sole on a rock and wrapped it with tape to stop the flapping. Maybe bringing two pairs of old shoes to run them into the ground was not the smartest idea. The descent back to the Lot then brought me to the castle town of Estaing. I had a bit to eat there and bought a sandwich for later. Unfortunately there wasn't a place with wifi, so I decided to continue on and find a cool place in the forest to work for the afternoon.

After working I continued on up the hill to Golinhac, where the campground advertised the sadly closed pool. I stopped at an epicerie first to get snacks, breakfast and wine. Another dinner of a sanwich and wine is not so bad. And William and Nicholas and Marine are all here too at the table next to me.

The dirt here really smells like Wyoming.