Saturday, April 25, 2026
End: Camp César de Chipilly
Kilometers: 32.1
Total: 110.7
I wanted to let Alex ice her ankle more in the morning, but she preferred an early start. I cooked eggs for breakfast, then we got the apartment cleaned up and left.
I carried Alex’s backpack on my front again. It was much heavier this time with food and water, but I managed.
Soon we were out of town, and back hiking on the canal. I think Miriam was sad to hike without her friend Coleen to talk to, and she wasn’t in a great mood. We kept moving, knowing that we hike best in the morning.
Soon we had passed the spot that I had marked as a campsite previously, before we had been forced to stop for a day to rest in Péronne. We marched on.
Morale seemed to be low from the start for the kids. Alex carried Daniel’s pack for awhile, and we kept moving. We passed the town of Frise, and I promised we would have lunch at the next lock on the canal, thinking it would be at Eclusier-Vaux. Instead, it was earlier, so we stopped there for lunch.
Afterwards, we continued on the canal to Eclusier-Vaux, then left the canal to enter the fields. We marched on to Cappy, and briefly rejoined the canal.
We had hiked pretty well all day, and I proposed that we attempt to make it to the spot I had selected at the Bélvédère of Camp César. It would make for a long day.
We went past Froissy, and on towards the marsh at Mericourt. This was the highlight of my day, navigating the paths through the marsh, reminding me a bit of the Florida Trail.
We made it through, and hiked up the hill to the lookout point. It was a marvelous spot for a tent, and we finished our long day there.
