Fisherman's Trail Day 6 - Aljezur to Arrifana

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
9/30/2024	11.6 miles	6 hours 23 minutes	1007'	3.1	637.5 miles

I got a message from Glen this morning and again at night.

Phyllis stayed at our hotel today, because she's sick. Dian and Tara are also still sick but hiked. So far, I'm not sick. Our day started out with a lot of road walking. We visited a small 10th century Moorish castle on our way out of town. At a certain point on our road walk, we came across a sign showing 2 routes to Arrifana. We took the Fisherman's Trail route rather than the Historical Way route. The Macs app routed us on the Historical Way route, so we just ignored the app. My bad foot was feeling pretty good, and my shin splints feel like they are improving despite a big mile day yesterday. I put KT tape on the blister on the bottom of my foot. It is sore.

We hiked to the beach and had lunch at a very old ruin. The beach was a touristy town with lots of people learning to surf. At the Arrifana beach, the same thing. We were staying at the same hotel as last night, so Macs had a taxi pickup organized for us to drive us back. We had 2 1/2 hours until the pickup time, so we had a late lunch at a restaurant above the beach. It felt good to relax and take my shoes off. Then we walked down to the beach, and I removed my shoes and walked in the ocean. The water is cold, so everyone is surfing in wet suits, but it felt great on my feet. Evening grocery shopping at the large grocery store and ate dinner by the pool again.

Moorish castle in Aljezur

Signs showing two options for routes - the Fisherman's Trail and the Historical Way

We headed to the beach

Portugal has the best chimneys!

Heather

12th century Ribat da Arrifana

My favorite plant on our trip, cistus ladanifer or Gum Rock Rose.
It looks like an azalea and has fragrant sticky leaves.
The fragrance of the leaves is amazing, and its scent was in the air throughout our hike.
For me, this is the smell of the Fisherman's Trail. 
I want to grow this in NC!

Just how did he get there?

Late lunch while waiting for our taxi

Cold water is great for refreshing tired feet.

Walking along the beach in Arrifana, while waiting for our taxi pickup. 

Lots of people taking surfing lessons.