Current Day. Trip to Date
Miles Walked. 17.2 115.0
Feet Climbed. 4160 16,620
Song of the Day: "So Quiet in Here" by Van Morrison
"Oh this must be what it's all about
This must be what paradise is like
So quiet in here, so peaceful in here"
Today was more challenging than we had anticipated. We had two incredibly steep climbs of over 1000 feet each. No question, these climbs drained a lot of energy, particularly the afternoon climb out of Rimbocci (which we lovingly referred to as Bruce Bocey, in honor of the SF Giants manager!). The Italians apparently don't believe in switch backs, and so the climbs tend to be right up the side of the mountain, billy goat style. The camera here doesn't do any justice to the steepness of the climb, although you can see how rocky the path was today:
Over the 5 days since we left Florence, we have walked 87 miles and climbed 16,00 feet. The next 4-5 days should get a little easier, as we begin to descend from the mountains. Linda and I are both in pretty good shape and have trained well for this trip. This year to date, we have averaged about 60 miles per week, between walks in San Francisco where we live, the gym, and weekend hikes in the mountains of Sonoma county. However, the difference between this trip and training is quite profound. First, that extra 40-50 miles per week all come at the end of the day when you are tired! And it would be almost impossible to prepare for the climbs we have experienced on this trip.
We continued to walk through the National Park forest today and if anything, the scenery today was even better than the past two days. This is an incredibly beautiful part of the world. The thing that has also amazed us is how quiet it is. The only sounds we hear are birds. On most walks, we usually hear cars, people, machinery, etc, but today it's more like Simon and Garunkel- "the sounds of silence." Or Van Morrison's "It's So Quiet in Here." Here is another photo from the forest:
Yesterday, I mentioned that a tornado had recently hit the forest. Here are several trees that had been tipped over from the tornado:
The weather was once again excellent for hiking. The day was very cool in the morning, and often drizzly. At one point, the drizzle turned into real rain, and we had to put our ponchos:
We also had to cross a stream today. Amazingly, both us ended up putting our feet into the water, and soaking our socks!
Toward the end of the walk, we visited the Sanctuary of La Verna. Today, it contains a church, several chapels and other historical artifacts c
onnected with St Francis. This place is famous because it is where St Francis received the Stigmata. Here is a photo of me standing in front of one of the churches:
So Mike, what is a stigmata?
I'm glad you asked! I had to check this out myself. Not being raised Catholic, I had not a clue. So, I turned to trusty wiki for the answer:
Stigmata (singular stigma) is a term used by members of the Christian faith to describe body marks, sores, or sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixionwounds of Jesus Christ, such as the hands, wrists, and feet.
The term originates from the line at the end of Saint Paul's Letter to the Galatians where he says, "I bear on my body the marks of Jesus." Stigmata is the plural of the Greek word στίγμα stigma, meaning a mark, tattoo,[1] or brand such as might have been used for identification of an animal or slave. An individual bearing stigmata is referred to as a stigmatic or a stigmatist.
Stigmata are primarily associated with the Roman Catholic faith. Many reported stigmatics are members of Catholic religious orders.[2] St. Francis of Assisi was the first recorded stigmatic in Christian history. For over fifty years, St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcinaof the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin reported stigmata which were studied by several 20th-century physicians.
So, in addition to starting a winery in Sonoma ( home of some pretty good Zinfandels by the way) and a high school in MountainView, Ca. (where my good friend Bill Klein went to high school), St Francis was the first person to ever receive the stigmata! Here are a couple of photos. The first is me standing at the entrance to the area where St Francis received the stigmata. The second is a painting from a wall depicting St Francis receiving the stigmata from Jesus.
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