Fisherman's Trail Day 1 - Porto Covo to Vila Nova de Milfontes

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
9/25/2024	11.6 miles	6 hours 37 minutes	343'	2.5 mph	575.5 miles

Today was our first day on trail. To say I was stressed about today was an understatement. My PT suggested that I hike a maximum of 4 miles a day. What to do? Our first day was over 11 miles and was supposed to be the hardest day. Not due to distance or elevation gain, but due to the amount of hiking on soft sand. 

Our self-guided trip was organized by Macs. I originally planned to organize it myself, but since this is a point-to-point hike, staying at several different hotels, the logistics became complicated. Macs did the hotel bookings for us. There are several routes in southwest Portugal. The hike offered by Macs is called The Best of the Rota Vicentina. The Rota Vicentina is a collection of trails in southwestern Portugal. The Fisherman's Trail is part of it, as well as The Historical Way. There are also loop trails. Often, we'd have a choice of route to take, and we'd deviate from the route that Macs showed. You can choose to hike along the shore (Fisherman's Trail) or more inland (Historical Way). Each has its own set of blazes. A map of all of the trails (I ordered from Portugal before the trip) is helpful in choosing routes.

We are staying at Hotel Eira in Vila Nova de Milfontes for 2 nights, which means that we needed a taxi shuttle. The morning started out with a complication. Our taxi driver didn't show up. And then we were struggling to get in touch with them. I got an e-sim, so I could contact people who are on What'sApp, but otherwise couldn't make phone calls. Eventually we got through to the taxi company, and they sent someone over. We started 2 hours later than planned. I had no idea how far I'd be able to hike and whether I'd be able to get a taxi or a bus if I needed to. I was fretting.

We were dropped off in Sines and hiked back to Villa Eira in Vila Nova de Milfontes. It was a grey, moody, drizzly day. We passed by a number of beaches with surfers. We have also seen colonies of stray cats. We often see water and food left out for them. We started seeing the same people on the trail over and over again, leap frogging them. No sketching during the day, because I was focused on getting the hike done. We took a few breaks throughout the day. Luckily, I was able to complete the whole hike! The trail is beautiful.

After dropping off our things at the hotel, we went grocery shopping and got salad fixings for dinner. I've been eating too much dessert here (pastel de nata!), because there are so many tempting things to try.

Now that we are staying in hotels, breakfast is provided.
Breakfasts tend to be huge.

The trail is mostly well marked. 

Blue and green blazes are for the Fisherman's Trail. 
Red and white blazes are for the Historical Way.
Red and yellow blazes are for circular routes.

The Fisherman's Trail follows the coast, staying on cliff tops, rarely going down to the beaches.

Sea Daffodils

Today, we did get a chance to walk along the beach.

Many towns have old fortresses in them.

Our hotel room had a kitchen. Perfect for prepping dinner.