Via Algarviana [8]: Soulrise:

This video is from the 7th day of walking on my Via Algarviana adventure, a camino of about 300km across the Algarve region of southern Portugal.

I was filled with bravado, as I departed Silves, and I was looking forward to a relatively short and easy stage of 32km to Monchique. However, the rookie mistake of not considering where I would next have access to water, added to my lack of sleep over the past 24 hours, was going to very abruptly slap that sense of invincibility out of me within just a matter of hours.

The day’s stage had started well enough as I crossed over Monte Branco to have the Castelo de Silves fade away on the horizon. But after just 1.5 hours, my energy levels had suddenly dropped as the heat of the day ramped up very quickly, even though it was only about 10am. I was able to keep a steady pace as I negotiated the Serra de Silves, but as I descended down on its northern side, I was already approaching my limits; and the intense glare from white gravel road was almost unbearable.

Now, to cut a potentially long story short, as I started my climb up Picota at around the 22km mark, I was well beyond my limits of comfort. Truth be told, I’ve never, even in any extreme endurance competition, been this close to passing out from pure exhaustion and a lack of fluids, as I had in that moment. I actually started to worry whether I was even going to be able to complete the stage before sunset.

Very fortunately, after an hour or so of climbing, I reached a small village, where I found a man working on a car in the front yard of his cottage. At first, he seemed quite taken-a-back as I interrupted his moment of mechanical zen by requesting water. However, after I had explained, in my very shitty Portuguese, what I was doing, he smiled widely and graciously offered me all the ice-cold water I could drink and fill my water bottles with.

As I closed in on Picota, just some 30 minutes later, I was well back on the way to the land of the living; and as I summited, with majestic views over almost the entire expanse of the Algarve, I felt my soul rise, in a sense, detaching itself from my physical body. I had transcended extreme fatigue, and was now being rewarded with an extreme shot of endorphins!

In that moment, the accompanying mental and spiritual clarity was also at a level I’d only ever experienced a few times in my life, the last time being some 11 years ago, as I stood in solitude in the sands of the Moroccan Sahara Desert, just outside of our camp, on the penultimate evening of the Marathon des Sables.

Upon arrival in Monchique, I still had enough sunlight to explore the town a little. However, all the while, I couldn’t escape thinking about the following day’s stage. At the start of this day, I had flippantly remarked at how easily 32km would go. Well, what was that now going to mean for tomorrow with over 50km on my plate?

Be blessed,
Jyri

#viaalgarviana #portugal #picota