Not much to say about today. It was the day before I finish the trail, so I was in an impeccably good mood all day, despite the intense heat in the afternoon.
I had a 400m climb in the morning up to the Roc de France (1,450m). Good views all around.
I met a GR10 hiker who had just started out at Banyuls, I helped him find some water on the trail. He seemed to be missing the comforts already, haha. I hope he does alright! I wished him to have fun and continued on.
Then, there was a looooong 20km mostly downhill on dirt roads and trails. I knocked out out in about 4 hrs.
This brought me to the border town of Le Perthus. It was very loud and overcrowded, just like the guidebook said it would be! Lots of people trying to sell you sunglasses or whatever on the curb. Tough life.
I went to the supermarket that had WiFi and hung around for an hour. I bought another days worth of foods and comforts and some beers to celebrate the end of the trail.
Then I hiked out around 6pm, having waited out the worst of the heat.
I made another 8km up the last hill between me and the Mediterranean, and found a nice place to camp in a clearing with views all around at 1,000m elevation.
It was the windiest here that it has been all trail! Wow! It’s impressively windy. All the better for this area, as the wind has kept the temperatures pretty bearable despite the heat.
The sky is clear, so I left the rainfly off the tent so I could gaze out at the stars for the first time this trip. Usually you just dont know if it’ll rain in the mountains, and so put the rain fly on as insurance, but I’m pretty sure it will remain dry tonight given the more desert-like feel of this area.
Tomorrow, 25km to Banyuls-sur-mer! The end of this journey, the eastern terminus of the HRP. I’m saving one beer for when I’m soaking my feet in the sea.
Good night!