With food, water and boots my pack weighed in at thirty two kilos. I carried it for about ten kilometers until the heat of the day drove us into shade. I fell asleep and didn't wake for about four hours so Jeremy suggested an early night and an early start. I had still not put the tarpaulin up before it got dark so I lay in the open in my waterproof sleeping bag cover and threw the tarp across the top like a blanket. As I crawled in a big anvil shaped cloud lit up pink and orange with internal lightning. A bad omen for sure.
I awoke with the rain beating down but I was dry thanks to the equipment and good luck that the water had not run under where I had lain the night before. Struggling out semi naked into a downpour was an experience I had not had since many years past.
Sitting by the stove making tea I remarked that my back hurt badly and feeling behind me I was horrified to find a proper hunchback hump. The weight of the sack had caused a severe scoliosis with my spine curved very noticeably to my right and sticking out a couple of inches.obviously a thirty two kilo pack was a bad move for a man who has sat at a computer desk for decades and who has become unused to heavy lifting.
I don't like to be beaten and so, as we had only walked about twenty two kilometers I hitched back into town to buy a wheelbarrow in which to push my gear.
I was foiled again because it was Sunday and all shops close on Sunday in small-town France. Still not to be beaten I called my daughter who kindly brought mine from home.
So, the journey continued.
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