Start: Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm
Finish: Ingolstadt
Distance: 19
Total: 1302
Today was one of those days I just needed to grit my teeth and get it over with. It wasn’t particularly difficult walking; fairly flat, not all that hot; but for some reason it was just a real grind.
Because I did not have a lodging plan for tonight, even though the town I was walking to, Ingolstadt, is a fairly large town with several hotels, I just couldn’t decide on which one to stay in in advance. So last night, my daughter Karla suggested I slack pack today and take the train back at the end of the day and stay another night in this nice hotel in Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm. So that’s what I decided to do, even though I had to switch rooms because of scheduling issues with the hotel staff.
I got out the door this morning at 7:10; a little earlier than usual but there were forecast thunderstorms at my destination starting at 1:00 so I was trying to beat the weather. The first half of the day was spent walking on a bike path along Hwy 13. Then about halfway, Hwy 13 was joined by Hwy 300 for a couple of miles. After that, my route, Hwy 13 turned to the left and continued toward my destination. Well, I don’t keep a constant watch on my iPhone with Google Maps when I’m walking. If the route is straight forward with no crazy turns, I just refer to my phone and the route occasionally to make sure I’m still on track. So I was walking along about 9:00 and I noticed I was walking straight toward the sun; like due east. That seemed odd because my route is basically north. So I got my phone out, looked at my route, and as I feared, I had missed a major turn about a mile back. My intended route, Hwy 13, had kept going north and Hwy 300 had gone straight east, and now I was following the wrong highway. I had two choices; backtrack a mile and get on the correct road, or continue to follow Hwy 300 until it looped back and joined Hwy 13 after a few miles. Either way, I was going to end up walking a couple of extra miles. Not a big deal if you’re driving in your car. But it’s a real mental bummer if you’re walking. So I continued straight ahead and eventually got back on track after going out of the way by about 40 minutes. Lesson learned.
Because I got an early start this morning, I didn’t stop for lunch or a break all day. I walked straight through for 18 miles. By the time I got to the train station in Ingolstadt I was tired, hot and sweaty, and hungry. I went straight to the train ticket office to see when the next train was leaving to take me back to Pfaffenhofen. I had 30 minutes; perfect for grabbing a sandwich and drink to have on the 30 minute train ride.
I got back to Pfaffenhofen at about 1:45 and had a mile walk to the hotel. When I stepped off the train, the sky was dark and rumbling thunder. I made it to the hotel just in time.
Tomorrow I’ll catch the train to Ingolstadt and start walking from where I stopped today. Lucky for me it’s suppose to be cooler for a few days. I’m looking forward to getting to Nuremberg on Friday with a day off Saturday. That’s all for today. I hope everyone stays safe if traveling this week for the holiday. Thanks for reading. JB.
