June 21, Abergavenny

It was supposed to be a scorcher today and there were at least sixteen and a half miles to cover, and since it was hard to sleep at that God awful Premier Inn, I  hit the road at 4:30 a.m. Yes, it was completely light out!  I got the idea to start that early because yesterday I encountered a fellow walking the opposite way—he was on day 51 of John O'Groats, a 1250 mile walk that begins in northern Scotland and goes to Land's End in England,  AND people who do this walk, camp—who said he had begun at "half four" to beat the heat, while I had lazed until 5:20!  Anyway, it was a lovely walk today except fo the last seven miles, which were utter torture.  More of that later.

 A view:

Some group festooned a bridge with colorful little hangings:

My first cow experience.  There were lots of cows with calves (this is when you have to be careful) and they started galloping like you would not believe as if to say, "We are going to get there (wherever there is) before you," and all I could think was, "PLEASE don't mass against the gateI have to go through."  And note, they have horns!

Well, it turned out that there were several connecting fields before there was a gate.  Apparently, the cows lost interest or were plum tuckered out from their gallop, but I was safe.

Then there was a place where it looked as if there was a choice of route.  I made the wrong choice and ended up here:

I tried scaling the barrier, but the third rung down was too high and the fourth rung was just a bit too low, so I crawled underneath.  (Pants will get a wash tomorrow in Hay on Wye)

Old bridge and new bridge:

Tree that looks like Big Foot with a Big Bulge:

These little lambies did not budge even when I opened the gate. Normally they are very timid and run away when you get anywhere near them:

No, we absolutely do not want the dogs to spoil the orchard:

This was the orchard:

The route today goes to Pandy, but I did not want to go to Pandy because there is absolutely nothing there and the two really bad places to stay are quite far off the route, and besides, for reasons I will not go into, I did not want to do the stage from Pandy to Hay on Wye.  This is why I decided to divert to Abergavenny, a lovely town, and do a circular walk here tomorrow, then take a taxi to Hay on Wye, where I will become official again.  But the seven mile diversion was—dare I even mention it again—about 85% uphill, a lot of it steep, on an asphalt road with no shoulder, in the heat.  It was brutal!  Brutal I tell you. And hard on the hips and back. 

The Angel Hotel, where I arrived at 12:15, (N.B., start time was 4:30) is really, really nice and so are the people who work here.  There was tea and a teapot in the room and some lovely biscuits.  What a treat!  The main shopping street is studded with coffee shops and bakeries and lots of other shops and restaurants.  On the weekend, it is closed to cars, so it was bustling!  Lots of people enjoying themselves.

A shop window:

I so enjoyed the luxury of a fine bed and good linens.  It was heaven after the demands of the day.  Three very demanding, very long days in a row is a lot!