Fisherman’s Trail, Portugal

Day 44-45: March 3-4, 2024

Day 44: March 3, 2024

11 miles to Vila Nova De Milfontes

The Fisherman’s trail is beautiful trail along the coast of Portugal.

I awoke early, and needed to wait until dawn to get up and go. The sun had not yet crested the horizon when I set out and birds were still huddled down for the night.

Just before the sunrise, I watched dozens of egrets rise from the vegetated bluff above the inlet at sunrise. They flew in groups, heading inland up the creek drainage. Two circled above me and then they too followed the rest of the egrets, heading to their freshwater fishing holes for the day. It reminded me of herons who cluster together as flocks in trees at night and then head out to hunt while standing in their motionless stance of attack in marshlands during the day to catch minnows.

Watching the sun first strike the outer sea, and then the breakers with veils of spray trailing behind them send color and shadows dancing like no other time of day. Rising early and hiking at first light shows images of the magic of the sea along with dew upon the vibrant green vegetation and spring bloom by my feet.

By mid-morning the colors had tempered down and I came to a restaurant overlooking the ocean, which was open. This is one of the amazing things about thus trail is to come upon a place to eat between the towns. Time for a real breakfast. Fresh squeezed orange juice and a dinner plate sized tuna sandwich with lettuce and tomato. I ate half the sandwich and stored the rest in my backpack for my lunch. Off I went again.

This particular day is known for being a slow day due to the soft sand. There are 2 long beach walks, along the sand with the rocky bluffs from ancient seabeds rising at an angle beside us. An alcove with bowling ball stones of different colors was too difficult to walk so I headed up the narrow angled sandy strip of beach.

This day was an amazing variation of seashore and inland passageways. I chose to do the inland route instead of the second beach walk. The dunes muffled the ocean roar while spring woodland birds chattered over the shrubs and coastal pine.

A partially shaded bench for sitting and having lunch while hikers strode by.

When the trail came back out to overviews from the cliffs, there was one bay after another with carved out sandstone cliffs, with overhangs for birds. Pigeons flew into the protected abodes and storks were building their nest on a rocky spire.

I made it to the next town by mid-afternoon and couldn’t find the hotel at the address I had. Wandering the streets I saw a sign for it and another hiker. I’d found it, but nit at the correct address. It was a very cold room, with no heat. I asked for a heater. They don’t provide heaters, but offered me another quilt. I nestled down under my covers after having a warm shower, though the bed was very lumpy. I was glad I had made it there just before the clouds came in earnestly with heavy rainfall for the night.

Day 45 March 4, 2024

10.2 miles to Almograve

After setting out through the village this morning I saw men walking by with odd shaped bags and then one with a racing kayak paddle. Soon I came to the boating area and there were a number of paddlers. A coach was talking to a few, while racing canoeists were launching their boats in the estuary and heading up stream. It was obviously another group of high caliber athletes, winter training in sprint kayaking and canoeing. I found out later that they were likely the Polish team down here in Portugal doing winter training.

The path goes along board walks by the estuary, where there were a number of women gathered sitting on benches. They were waiting for a boat ride across the estuary, so they wouldn’t need to walk around. A couple women run a boat taking hikers across to the other side. Its only 5 Euros, but I declined. Its a fairly short day today and I wanted to see what was inland.

The route went through the adjacent town, where I spent my change on a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice. Crossing the high bridge over the river, was so similar to the route 101 along the Oregon coast. Soon the trail was off the road and onto a path through forest and grazing land. It began to rain by the time the path met the coast again, but it was a light on again off again showers.

Ducking back behind the dunes the path went through meadows typical of the shoreline. There was a vast array of different wildflowers. I stopped to take photos and saw a magenta flower which may be an orchid.

There were a few oak trees whose cork had been taken off the lower trunk like in Spain, but one actually had two layers of cork removed.

Once I was back near the beach the wind picked up and the rain stopped. In the lee of some bushes I found a spot to sit in the sand and have have a bite to eat. Its a relatively short day today so I took off my shoes to air my feet and dump out the sand. Then lying back on my pack I dozed off for a few minutes in the sun, with my hat shading my face.

I didn’t want to get to the hotel until 4:00, when it opens, so I took several more breaks. Views opened up out over the sea where the black jagged rocky crags protruded on their sides like razor blades.

It turned out that I actually got an apartment in town, complete with a washing machine. Great, I get to wash my clothes. Well, it turns out I needed to wash everything.Today I discovered several red itchy bites on my trunk. Oh no. Bed bugs. So, I have done 2 loads of laundry, hanging them to dry in the wind outside overnight. My wool sweater will need to go on the back of my backpack to dry. I hope it doesn’t rain. Now, I have a new chore…I need to check my bed for bed bugs each night!