backpacking | Books and my backpack

Five days on England’s Cotswold Way and the trail has taken us to every hilltop in sight and some we didn’t see until we emerged from dark forests. Planners largely kept the path above the quaint villages we had expected would be daily features.

The tradeoff? Fantastic views, crowds of day hikers, fierce winds, very little road walking, and steep climbs as we walk through hilly parks and golf courses. Loose, well-behaved dogs everywhere. Sheep, cattle, and horses. And surprisingly few people thru-hiking the Cotswold Way.

Look closely and you’ll see a golf course below us in the top photo. One day we sat on a cement block next to a curious building (an emergency shelter for sheep?) for a picnic.

The weather has turned cool and blustery. A couple of showers brought out the rain gear today and Tuesday looks quite wet; four days to the finish line in Bath!

The final numbers: twenty-one days on the Via Francigena, 268 miles through Tuscany and Lazio, 29,000 feet of climbing.

Yesterday, our final day brought us a unique view of St. Peter’s Basilica. When we arrived at the square an hour or so later, it still buzzed from the previous day’s announcement of the new American pope.

Scores of TV interviews and commentary were being filmed while thousands of people milled about. Like when we arrived in 2018 after walking the Way of St. Francis, two Oregon “pilgrims” with backpacks felt out of place.

Early this morning we returned with our pilgrim passports, which held 32 stamps from places we visited along the path that had been traveled for more than a thousand years. At a desk next to the basilica, we received our testimonia, identical to the ones we earned after walking the Way of St. Francis.

Back at our Testevere apartment this afternoon, we feel the usual letdown, missing the routine and adventure of one of the world’s great trails. Our feet rejoiced.

Tonight we meet fellow trekkers from The Netherlands for dinner. They have completed pilgrimages to all three Christian destinations: Rome, Santiago de Compostela, and Jerusalem. A bit of reminiscing is likely to accompany our toasts.