Hiking Dude Blog

September 15 - The last mile or so always seems to take so long. Winding into Lagos around 4:00pm over a massive network of boardwalks to keep the hords of tourists off the eroding cliffs, we walked the last mile to our lodging for the night. It was a great day of hiking to end on.

Our hike started at a bit after 10am since we chose to wait for a shuttle from the campground back to the trail. But, we got a nice breakfast before leaving so we started fed and hydrated.

A big climb right out of Salema, followed by a drop back down to the sea and another climb up, warmed us up quickly. We had a few more such climbs but not so many as yesterday. We still managed to sweat quite a bit today in the warmer air and steep hills.

The ocean views were many and beautiful, and there was more packed clay than sand or rocks on the trail. This, along with the long boardwalks, made the day overall a fairly easy 15 miles. I saw a couple more fishermen, but still no fish caught.

We met a nice couple from Holland at a snack break in Luz and enjoyed chatting with them awhile. We were also stopped by a young lady asking about so many people with backpacks. So, she got a Hiking Dude sticker to check out the blog.

Tonight, we had grilled sardines and grilled golden bream at a restaurant recommended by our host. Our walk through the big city of Lagos was fun. The tight old streets are packed with people. Our airbnb lodging is right in the old town and is very comfortable.

We now have a day off in Lagos tomorrow after hiking around 300 miles over the past month.

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September 14 - Yet another beautiful day hiking along the coast of Portugal. Most of the day offered great views south over the Atlantic but we worked for them.

The first 6 miles of trail had only 2 climbs and the rest was mostly flat up on the cliffs. The cliffs here on the south shore are quite a bit lower than the West Coast.

The lower plateau made the 10 climbs in the second 6 miles a bit easier. They were still on very steep and rugged trail, but at least they were never more than 200 feet of elevation. A dozen of them were enough to tire us out, though.

The trail itself is much more rugged here. Straight up rock hillsides with lots of loose gravel and scree made slipping an easy activity.

At the hallway point, we stopped for a coke at yet another beach bar. It was a very nice rest break before starting all the little climbs.

We arrived in Salema around 2:30 and had 90 minutes to wait for a shuttle to take us a mile out of town to our campground. We got a coke and enjoyed some shade by the beach. Salema is definitely the most touristy/expensive town so far.

The mile of road to the campground is very narrow and windy so our plan is to delay our start tomorrow and take the first shuttle down to the town at 10am.

We found a flat area of dirt for our tent and got a simple dinner at the camp restaurant, and that was the day. Tomorrow is our last, long walk.

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September 13 - Friday, the 13th, what could go wrong? Well, nothing actually. Today was a very pleasant uneventful day in which we reached the 'Edge of the World'.

After what is becoming our typical breakfast of fruit, yogurt, and granola, we walked out of Vila do Bispo on our last southbound hike in Portugal. Our 13 mile hike was all on dirt road except for about 3 miles.

Once we left town, we could see forever in all directions since the plateau here is so flat. Water towers that we had passed days ago were still visible on the horizon and the edge of land where Portugal dropped to the sea was ahead of us.

Surfing is big business around here and we've become used to surf school vans flying past on roadwalks. This morning was the same, but that was the only traffic on this fairly peaceful hike.

We reached the western cliffs as we've done for the past week and followed them south to Cabo de Sao Vicente lighthouse where we could go south no more. This is known as the Edge of the World because it is the most southwest spot in Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula and Europe. It's the last but of land sailors would see when seeing off on adventures.

Today, it's more of a tourist trap with tour buses and gaggles of people stopping for selfies and then moving on. We found a sheltered spot for our sardine lunch and then hiked up the road.

From here, we take a big left hand turn and will be hiking east along Portugal's south shore for a couple days. Right away, the sea below us is a different color and is begging us to jump in. But as we're still over a hundred feet above that's not happening for awhile.

The last part of our hike into Sangres consisted of a wonderfully wide and smooth walkway along the road and some trail along the cliffs. This bit of trail, as well as a small section just north of the lighthouse, was extremely rocky rather than the sand we've become accustomed to.

Tip: If you are tempted to just walk the fast, easy road into Sangres from the lighthouse, you you will miss the first very beautiful views down into the 'new' ocean. The small extra distance and rougher trail are worth it.

Arriving in Sangres around 1:30, we found our lodging for the night and then headed to the beach which was just a 10 minute walk. It was beautiful, but the water was as cold as any mountain lake I've ever been in! Maybe as we head east it will warm, but I doubt it.

After our beach rest, we did our usual showers, groceries, and then dinner so we're ready for our penultimate day of hiking tomorrow.

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September 12 - This was definitely a day of ups and downs.

We slept in and then had some plums, cocoa, and bread for breakfast at the hostel, so we didn't get out of town until almost 9:00, but the dirt roadwalk was pleasant to the coast.

The official Fisherman's Trail route had us drop down to three separate beaches today. That also means three climbs back up to the plateau! Each climb was about 400 feet and some were steeper than others.

Since the hike today was only about 10 miles, we decided to divert off the official trail which went inland, and stay on the coast another couple miles before heading inland to Vila do Bispo. This meant adding two more of those climbs, but we got to spend some time walking along almost a mile of nice beach.

I'd really recommend doing this, but with one change. At a four-way intersection about 6.5 miles south on trail from Carrapateira, stay on the yellow/red marked trail rather than the green/blue Fisherman's Trail so you tend west to the coast instead of straight south to Vila do Bispo.

When you drop down to the first beach, which is Prais de Barriga, just walk out onto the beach and follow it to the left/South for at least 2 miles to Beach Castelejo where you can follow the road, then trail, Southwest to Vila do Bispo.

This gets you on the beach for a long, pleasant walk with only one additional climb.

We met a few more German hikers - surprise! But, the trail was not very busy today. We did see a trail friend from Austria named Katie so we're looking forward to maybe running into her again.

We stopped on one beach for a sardine and crackers picnic and on another for a snack while we watched waves crash onto the rocks.

The hike ended with the typical roadwalk into town where we are staying in someone's apartment that has been changed to a lodging similar to AirBnB.

The wind was very strong today and the sun bright. It was a great day for walking.

With a little effort looking for a place that would take more than just cash, we enjoyed a dinner of sea bass and grilled shrimp in a tiny restaurant that was full.

Vila do Bispo is the first town on this trek that has had a 'real' grocery store, AND it has an Aldi store that we might visit on our way out of town tomorrow.

Excitement for today: my floppy sun hat got whipped off my head by the strong wind and almost down a steep hillside, but we retrieved it before it got away.

Check out my current location on the map.

September 12 - This was definitely a day of ups and downs.

We slept in and then had some plums, cocoa, and bread for breakfast at the hostel, so we didn't get out of town until almost 9:00, but the dirt roadwalk was pleasant to the coast.

The official Fisherman's Trail route had us drop down to three separate beaches today. That also means three climbs back up to the plateau! Each climb was about 400 feet and some were steeper than others.

Since the hike today was only about 10 miles, we decided to divert off the official trail which went inland, and stay on the coast another couple miles before heading inland to Vila do Bispo. This meant adding two more of those climbs, but we got to spend some time walking along almost a mile of nice beach.

I'd really recommend doing this, but with one change. At a four-way intersection about 6.5 miles south on trail from Carrapateira, stay on the yellow/red marked trail rather than the green/blue Fisherman's Trail so you tend west to the coast instead of straight south to Vila do Bispo.

When you drop down to the first beach, which is Prais de Barriga, just walk out onto the beach and follow it to the left/South for at least 2 miles to Beach Castelejo where you can follow the road, then trail, Southwest to Vila do Bispo.

This gets you on the beach for a long, pleasant walk with only one additional climb.

We met a few more German hikers - surprise! But, the trail was not very busy today. We did see a trail friend from Austria named Katie so we're looking forward to maybe running into her again.

We stopped on one beach for a sardine and crackers picnic and on another for a snack while we watched waves crash onto the rocks.

The hike ended with the typical roadwalk into town where we are staying in someone's apartment that has been changed to a lodging similar to AirBnB.

The wind was very strong today and the sun bright. It was a great day for walking.

With a little effort looking for a place that would take more than just cash, we enjoyed a dinner of sea bass and grilled shrimp in a tiny restaurant that was full.

Vila do Bispo is the first town on this trek that has had a 'real' grocery store, AND it has an Aldi store that we might visit on our way out of town tomorrow.

Excitement for today: my floppy sun hat got whipped off my head by the strong wind and almost down a steep hillside, but we retrieved it before it got away.

Check out my current location on the map.

September 11 -

We hiked dirt roads out of town for quite a while and lots of cars passed us both ways. About a quarter mile after stopping to put on sunscreen, I noticed my glasses with clip on sunglasses were not hanging on my pocket. A quick, frantic search did not find them, so I hiked back the way we had come. I found them, but one car had found them first. Now, I have flat glasses with one lens, but the sunglasses still work. It's ok, because I needed to get an eye checkup anyway.

With all the traffic, we figured the road was leading to a great surfing spot. Turns out we were right. We got to a beach and watched surfers for a while and then climbed a very long hill back up to the plateau again.

We hiked along a very nice dirt road that was comfortable to walk on and it was in trees that we weren't sure what they were but they had long leaves and several thin trunks that came together at the bottom. They had been planted.

Then we walked through farmland for a while and got to a stop where we could get a snack and a Coke. It was a very pretty bed and breakfast place and we had tapas, some meat and cheese and bread and olives. Then we hiked on dirt roads again and hiked through a herd of cattle coming up the road being herded by their dogs but no people and we got petting close to the cows. We saw wind turbines in the distance.

This was a bright sunny day with pretty blue sky and a nice cool breeze blowing on us most of the day. It's been a very pleasant walk. More sand dunes again with the ocean off to our right but not super close to the cliffs. Almost every hiker we meet is from Germany.

About one and a half miles before Carrapateira, the trail drops down to a huge long Bordeira Beach that's very beautiful. This is a great spot to stop and enjoy the beach for a couple hours before reaching your destination. The trail from there to town goes to the south of the beach but we stayed on the beach and walked to the parking lot it was easier and nicer.

Our night will be in another very nice hostel after a dinner of presto pasta and pizza.

Check out my current location on the map.