September 14 - Yet another beautiful day hiking along the coast of Portugal. Most of the day offered great views south over the Atlantic but we worked for them.

The first 6 miles of trail had only 2 climbs and the rest was mostly flat up on the cliffs. The cliffs here on the south shore are quite a bit lower than the West Coast.

The lower plateau made the 10 climbs in the second 6 miles a bit easier. They were still on very steep and rugged trail, but at least they were never more than 200 feet of elevation. A dozen of them were enough to tire us out, though.

The trail itself is much more rugged here. Straight up rock hillsides with lots of loose gravel and scree made slipping an easy activity.

At the hallway point, we stopped for a coke at yet another beach bar. It was a very nice rest break before starting all the little climbs.

We arrived in Salema around 2:30 and had 90 minutes to wait for a shuttle to take us a mile out of town to our campground. We got a coke and enjoyed some shade by the beach. Salema is definitely the most touristy/expensive town so far.

The mile of road to the campground is very narrow and windy so our plan is to delay our start tomorrow and take the first shuttle down to the town at 10am.

We found a flat area of dirt for our tent and got a simple dinner at the camp restaurant, and that was the day. Tomorrow is our last, long walk.

Check out my current location on the map.