Competa to Sedella, April 26

 Guess what, everybody!  I have taken up the drink!  There is a little bottle of sherry in the room, so I decided to taste it; it is quite delicious!  A little poured into a glass of hot lemon water (what you drink when you don't have tea) is especially nice.

Usual beginning—I hope everyday will not be like this—left at 7:15, couldn't figure out the directions.  It took so long to get it right that the move ring on my watch closed!  A segment of the walk was gorgeous, along a river, but then the usual "Where the heck are you supposed to go?"  The instruction book, while well written in terms of its prose, is not adequate AT ALL.  I spent forever, going back and forth for quite some distances trying to figure out the turns and the crossing and  such.  And guess what (again)?  Sometimes "No:"

 

means "Yes."  That is because "my route" flirts with the GR 249, sometimes following it, sometimes not.

Again lots and lots of climbing.   This was one huge zig-zag (photo is just a segment) but at least you can't get lost doing it!

Maybe next time:

 

After passing this farmhouse (looking for a fixer upper?  Lots of privacy): 

that came complete with fiercely barking dogs, I realized that the nice road I was on was no longer the right road, so I searched and searched and finally found the long, steep, narrow trail (lots of those on this route), climbed the damn thing, only to discover that the topography at the top did not match the instructions.  Down again.  But there were three people on the road!  Ahoy, friends!  Two men and a woman were on a walking vacay in Spain, one of whom, Andrew, is very schooled in such issues—this means you know what you are doing consulting only a book and a map— although he confessed that yesterday he went many miles out of his way.  Andrew helped me find the trail, which was exactly where I thought it was but it veered to the left rather than going straight up.  So we climbed together a good distance.  We got to a road.  He told me to go left, which I did.  This had nothing at all to do with my GPS instructions or the book, but it was, again, fortunately, the GR 249, so it was marked. 

I never did get to Sedella, the intended end point, which was supposed to have been a 4 1/2 hour walk.  Instead I walked over 20 miles and ended up back in Competa.  But I did save a taxi fare as I am staying in Competa again tonight.