There was a very long 26 km/16 mile day ahead of us, and we wanted to get an early start. Monsieur said that breakfast was at 7:30 am, however, he didn’t show up until 7:45 am! On the trail later than we wanted, this is the only section of the Robert Louis Stevenson trail that RLS did not do. His original route led through the valley where a very busy highway now runs.

It was back through Le Pont de Montvert at 875m/2,870′ across the little bridge crossing the Tarn and through the tall grey houses on an old path rising above the village. This draille (path) was once used by muleteers and it climbed steeply into the hills. Once on the Cham de L’Hermet plateau, a long traverse and then downhill through a forest. Next, all uphill for a total of four hours, fortunately through woods in the shade.

There must have been billions of insects driving us nuts trying to get at the pounds of salt encrusted on our faces, hats and clothing. Thought I was going to lose my mind swatting, trying to keep them out of my eyeballs and avoid hitting myself with walking sticks while swatting, cursing and walking.

GR 70 map portion from Le Pont de Montvert to Florac, France

on the old mule drover’s trail heading out of Le Pont de Montvert, France 

old stone “montjolie” trail marker on RLS trail, France
Next waymark was the Col de Planette at 1,292m/4,238′ followed by another summit at 1,398m/4,586′ with its very big “stone men” cairns marking this spot. A short descent, another climb to Signal du Bouges at 1,421m/4,662′. Thank God, the highest point on the ridge and of today’s climb. Into a beech forest and another hour along the ridge until we crossed the D20 and Col du Sapet.

giant stone cairns on one of the passes heading to Florac, France 

the RLS trail kept going up along a plateau in France 

A stop for snacks and cokes at a ruined cabin …

a brief stop for nourishment to continue on the trail towards Florac, France
…and more hours on the exposed ridge until we came to a crossroads showing the GR 68 was 10km/6.2 miles to Florac or the GR 70 was 12km/7.5 miles to Florac…View image…. I don’t have to tell you which route we took. It had to be in the 90′s today and we started along a dirt road and then down, down, down…across meadows, through forest, rocks, sandy trail, more meadows and even steeper forest until there was the highway into Florac at 546m/1,791′. We’re talking a 3,000′ descent here. There was a sign saying “…1km to centre’ville…” My exact words on seeing this sign…Shit. Another kilometer to go? Another 6/10ths of a mile?

Waves of heat spread through my body. Nauseous, dizzy, we stopped on the main street. I sat down on a stone wall in the shade and…PASSED OUT! Came to sitting on the ground with Steve frantically taking backpack and cameras off me. He ran into a petrol station, refilled the water bottles and began pouring water over my head. Hiking in the sun for eight hours, up and down mountains in this heat, did a job on my body. (After the fact, my Doctor thinks it was a double whammy of dehydration and sun stroke.) A big lesson for us – four liters of water was not enough and there was nowhere on the long trail today to get water when we ran out. For the remainder of the trip, be warned…potable water stops were almost non-existent.

man down on the trail…Sheila after she passed out, Florac, France
On my feet and moving in slow motion we start looking for the Hotel du Gorges du Tarn. I sat down on the street outside the Information office while ex-Marine ran in to get directions and a map.

Florac map, France
The hotel was only two blocks away, a 2** Logis where it was off with the sopping wet clothes, and threw this decrepit body (with shooting pains up and down all parts of my feet and achilles) on the bed. Very thankful that at least I didn’t pass out on the mountain given the fact that there were only four other people sightings the entire day! The book on Le Chemin de Stevenson said that today is the longest and hardest day of the entire journey and they weren’t just whistling Dixie… B-R-U-T-A-L…