Start: Hildburghausen
Finish: Suhl
Distance: 18
Total: 1471
Today was planned to be a straightforward 15 mile walk to the nice city of Suhl. It turned into an 18 mile power walk to keep from getting caught in thunderstorms.
Today’s weather called for thunder showers beginning at noon in my destination of Suhl. I got up early, got packed up, took my backpack to breakfast with me, and hit the road at 7:05. It had rained all night so the roads and trails were very wet, but it was only overcast with no rain when I left.
I walked about three miles on a busy highway before my phone directed my route off the highway onto a trail. I was skeptical about this knowing that if this trail turned into dirt I was about to get muddy and wet. As the trail started, it was a nice wide gravel road. After about a quarter mile it became a narrow gravel trail. After another quarter mile, the trail went away completely and became just a cleared path through the trees with waist high grass. I was suppose to be on this for about two miles after which it rejoined the highway. By this time my feet were soaking wet from wading through the wet grass so I pressed on through the clearing until it rejoined the highway. Shortly after getting back on the paved road, I walked into a small town with a bus stop where I pulled out my new, dry shoes and a dry pair of socks from my backpack and put them on. I brought a new second pair of shoes with me from home which I’m suppose to start wearing in a couple of more weeks when my first pair are worn out.
So my new shoes and dry socks fixed my immediate wet foot problem, but I couldn’t afford to get my feet wet again today. I did a quick, in-depth review of the remainder of my route and it had me going on and off trails again several times. The other option was to walk the rest of the day on the highway where it was dry, which would add three miles to my route. I really had no choice so my 15 mile day became an 18 mile day.
Because I was trying to beat the rain, I didn’t stop enroute for lunch but instead walked the 18 miles straight through and arrived at my hotel just as the rain started. Unfortunately, checkin time was not until 3:00 and my room was not ready. I went to the hotel restaurant for lunch and worked on this blog while waiting to check in.
Once I got my room assignment, I was waiting to get on the elevator and overheard a mother and daughter speaking the kind of English I speak. I asked them where they were from and that’s when I met Becky and Sydney Prince from Burleson, Texas. They are here in Suhl with husband/father Greg and son Conner. Conner is on the U.S. Junior National Shooting Team. They have been in Italy for the Junior World Shooting Championships and are now here for the Junior World Cup. Here’s wishing Conner good luck shooting skeet in the next few days.
It is forecast to rain again tomorrow so unless something changes, I plan to stay here for a day off. I hope everyone’s week was good and you have a great weekend. JB.