A Prelude of September: The Thames Path and Los Picos de Europa

I usually write blogs during or after our adventures to share the experience with friends and family and to help preserve the memory. I’m using this prelude to help get multiple trips straight. We are undertaking two very different excursions with multiple travel companions with some underlying uncertainty. Here is what you can expect to hear about in the next month.

Walking the Thames Path

We have loved our walks along England’s Coast to Coast, Hadrian’s Wall Path, and the Cotswold Way. Our next National Trail is the eastern half of The Thames Path.

The 185-mile Thames Path follows the River Thames from its source, in the Cotswolds west of London, to the Thames Flood Barrier on the east side of London. We are walking the eastern half of the path, starting in the middle at Reading, conveniently at the end of London Underground’s Elizabeth Line, which also serves Heathrow. We will pass many famous sites ranging from Windsor Castle to Runnymede (where the Magna Carta was signed in 1215) and Greenwich (as in the Greenwich Meridian or Greenwich Mean Time). On one of the days, we walk through central London, past Parliament, The Eye, St Paul’s, and The Tower of London, though I am looking forward to the less-famous sights we will catch throughout the walk. Janet and I walk from Reading to Windsor by ourselves and are then joined by our dear friends Eric and Keesha. Janet and Keesha worked together on costumes for our kids’ theatre. We are very much looking forward to sharing our walking passion with more friends and experiencing London from a different perspective.

Trekking in Northern Spain

After London, I am heading south to Northern Spain with my buddy James and our camping gear while Janet heads north to Ulverston, our home away from home, to visit our dear friends the Callaghans. James and I hope to complete a 75-mile loop around three major massifs in Spain’s first national park, the Picos de Europa. Unfortunately, some wildfires have hit the area, so we might have to change to an equally challenging loop in the Pyrenees, traversing the Spain/France border. These treks are a similar size to Colorado’s Collegiate Loop that I hiked with Samuel, while having more technical trails at a lower altitude. We travel to San Sebastien by train and then head west or east! I am looking forward to an extended hike with James and finding our way in another country, though I am struggling to think clearly about packing for this trip as it happens after the London trip!

Soon after our return from this trip, I head to Colorado for a long weekend with Samuel in the Lost Creek Wilderness, hopefully before the season’s first major snowfall. Meanwhile, Bailey stays home, looks after Saydee, and starts her job mid September!

To hear about these trips, and further adventures of the Cajunlimeys, subscribe below or find previous trips at cajunlimeys.com.