Saturday, October 25, 2025
End: Le Mas Dieu
Kilometers: 23.8
Total: 137.9
It was not a super restful night for me, in our tent site wedged between a few trees. My head was either resting on a tree root, or contorted to avoid it.
In the morning, we packed up and got moving on the trail. We soon left the small patch of forest, and started walking through roads towards Chamborigaud.
We usually walk with a good attitude in the morning, and soon we were in town. I stopped at the bakery and got the children some breakfast, which they ate on our way out of town. There was a lot of history in Chamborigaud, just like most of the villages we have visited on this hike. The historical markers have been a highlight for me.
I had thought that this would be a day of roadwalking, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that we were usually on forest trails, in close proximity to a road. It makes a big difference, especially when you are trying to keep kids safe.
We made it into Portes and took a short break at the castle. I didn’t see any of the village itself, the trail want around the back of a few buildings, then left it behind.
Normally, I would plan ahead and research all the stores on the trail, making sure that we would find food when we want it. For this trip, I told my family I was “going with the flow”, and took the guidebook’s word for it when it claimed a village had a store.
This backfired today. We didn’t stop at the store in Chamborigaud, didn’t see a store in Portes, and subsequent stores were closed. We carried barely enough food for the children to eat during the day, and cook dinner.
We didn’t stop too much during the day. Preparing to get into Alès the following day, we made this day all about covering a lot of distance and getting close to the city.
After I filtered some water from the Fountain of the Mamas in Mas Dieu, we hiked into the woods and found a spot to camp. It was a successful day, and we were very happy to soon be in Alès to take a shower and wash our clothing.
