June 20, Chepstow to Monmouth

 Headed out from the Three Tunns in Chepstow at 5:20 a.m., and dragged myself into the very budget Premier Inn in Monmouth where the window in the room does not open and the AC pretends to work but doesn't, and the purple light over the bed cannot be turned off, and the pillow kind of smells, at 2:45 p.m. It was hot and humid and there was so much uphill you would not believe.  Fortunately, a fair amount of walking was in the woods:

which was great except when the woods are like this:

There were also flower-studded meadows (unshaded):

And tall growth you had to bushwhack your way through.

There were mounds that looked like giant anthills:

I tried to avoid stepping on them, worried that maybe wasps lived there or something.

One of my favorite sites:

Downed electric fence, not so much:

It was hot for the sheep

And for the cows:

(I wish I used WordPress so that this photo could be shown enlarged.  Please click on it to enjoy to the max!)

By and by I saw a Rising Lion!!

And a device that looked like a child's swing........... or a torture instrument: 

This was a bridge, NOT to be crossed:

 

And a good thing, too, because it could collapse at any moment!

Sample of art on the wall of an underpass:

Toward the end of the stage, I went off the derech (path) onto a lovely shaded, downhill path. When I realized my mistake, I said to myself, "OY!" I so did not want to turn around to go back to the correct route. I studied the map and realized I could hook up with the official route just before the bridge into Monmouth, and so I did.  What great scenery I missed, I will never know; I was too done in to care.

A poor attempt at tie dye? Nope. This is what your tee shirt looks like when it is very hot for very long, and you buy your shocking pink bra at Lesters for $12.00:

Darn!! I am going to miss this:

Having thought it through, I would have to say that the problem was that this stage was simply too much of a good thing on a very hot day.  Seventeen miles....not counting diversions, errors, mileage getting to the path and mileage to the accommodation adds up to one big total!