Stairway to Hell

So, today was the first really shitty day.

The ascent to the path that was to bring me from Bouvante to Lente and thus in the correct direction, soon led onto a murderous trail. Terribly steep, full of rocks and gravel, and slippery. And with trees laying across the path.

At the beginning it still looked nice.

But soon it was like this. And even worse. (Why do photos never show how steep such a trail really is?)

Of course, Gamin refused to walk on when he saw the tree trunks. I tried to motivate him and finally unloaded the luggage until he jumped or climbed across. When one tree was behind us, lo and behold, there came the next. A torture. Of course I aske myself whether it would be wiser to turn around, but we had already managed a couple of trees and I still hoped that the next one would be the last.

Was this the last one?

No, really ...

Finally, we *almost* reached the top. But then ... the whole hillside was covered in tree trunks and rocks. And on the ground there was a broken wooden signpost, stating: "We are currently renewing the GR; sorry for the troubles"

Yes, thank you very much, arsehole! A GR in such a state simply has to be closed!

Final destination: tree hell

After all, we had to turn back.

The rain got stronger and stronger, transforming the steep slope into a slippery hell. When I had to unload the luggage again, the roll with the sleeping bag and the insulation mattress fell out of my and, on the ground - and rolled into the bottomless abyss of the ravine.

Gone was the wonderful sleeping bag! The rain increased, I was totally drenched, it got windy and even more slippery. 

I can't remember how often I slipped and fell into the dirt. Gamin also fell a couple of times and for a while I thought, ok, this is the end. This will become our grave.

At some stage, Gamin refused to move in front of a tree trunk I would also have refused to tackle, because on the other end there was nothing but a steep, wet, slippery wall of rock. I have no idea how we managed it, but we fought our way back to Bouvante, and now I am back in the hotel.

The owner is willing to drive me to an outdoor shop tomorrow so that I can buy a new sleeping bag and an insulation mattress.

The laptop also got wet, it has a bad stain on the display, but it still works. Everything is wet and covered in scratches.

A day in hell, indeed.