Boys Done Good – Nonaspe to Caspe

We ate last night at a bar just down the road from the Prison that we were staying in at Nonaspe. The landlord said he opened at 7am for breakfast. Excellent! We joined him with our rucksacks at 9.30am. A long walk yesterday deserved the respect of a late start today. He cooked  us fried eggs with toast, large white coffees and orange juice. Perfect. Today we were not going to take a wrong turning. No chance. Well, maybe only a little one. 

It was a cold night with a heavy frost and the first couple of hours walk were cold but refreshing. We wound up the river valley from Nonaspe towards Fabara station. 

We saw three or four tractors and cars en route. This beautiful land is empty of folk. Along the route were lots of wild pomegranates and we gave them a go.

It was a beautiful morning and the mountain terraces opened up their magnificence.

It’s so Zen to walk for hours with just the sound of birdsong and your own thoughts getting filtered towards happiness. With the sun on your head and a cool wind in your face, with nothing all around. Kismet Hardy.

Luckily Gary is as like minded as my mate Chip; comfortable to walk together in silence and just appreciate what and where we are. I’m not being posy. It’s true. It’s painful on your chest, knees, feet, legs and shoulders but it is brilliant. 

It got warm and we slowed a little but we were doing 20 miles today and not 27 so we were ok with it. The frustrating bit is that the Spanish don’t have Ordnance survey maps so we were navigating on google earth hard copy photos. There are no roads for tens of miles at the moment, but that will change when we walk in the Ebro valley.

Sorry to harp on about this but I’m loving being alive and chuffed that I didn’t die, having a beautiful family and friends and a fantastic wife who lets me live my dream of wild country walking. Nobody on this planet is luckier. Apart from Gary, who gets to walk with me!

The sun was beginning to sink and we approached the outskirts of Caspe. We were knackered and it was stuck up on a hill for fortification. It tested our strength after yesterday. And Sheff Utd was a bit ahead of Leeds (although Gazza might, justifiably, dispute that). 

It’s a nice town. A lot of North Africans here, surprising in the middle of nowhere but welcome nevertheless. 

I’ve enjoyed reviewing today and writing this blog. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Love Dave (and Gary).

Night night.