Terry's Via Algarviana. Day 7 - Monchique to Aljezur

After a herculean walk on Day 6, Silves to Monchique, which involved climbing Picota in a hailstorm, Terry met similarly adverse conditions on day 7. From his lodging in Monchique, he set off at 9 am, after a splendid breakfast, up Foia where he faced driving rain and thick cloud. Despite this he made the descent in good order, by 1130 am, to Marmelete, where he met David, Myriam and myself for a welcome coffee, before continuing in our company towards Aljezur.
Navigation so far had been excellent, thanks to David's comprehensive pamplets and the regular 'Cistus' design waymarks. This didn't last. Perhaps over excited (or appalled) by the thought of having Myriam and myself for company, we missed a crucial turn and waymark just north of the Marmelete-Aljezur road, and carried on for several miles, practically following the whole of Mike's last walk, before we stopped trying to make the topography match the description. It was then I realised that there had been a warp in the space-time continuum, that had resulted in our being rather a long distance to the north of our desired track! We were getting caught in annoyingly regular bands of heavy rain, which just gave us the time to dry off and remove raingear before the next onslaught. Undaunted we selected a more southerly route, hoping to bisect the path we wanted, and struggled to the top of a large hill which gave us excellent views, as it was in the early stages of recovering from the forest fires of last year.
Aljezur was on the far horizon, and we spotted a likely path far below. Unfortunately, we would have needed hang gliders of a chair lift to get down from this particular hill, so we retreated and found a more user-friendly ridge descending in the right direction.
At the valley floor was the inevitable river crossing, swollen by the recent rains into a raging torrent (by Algarve standards). After searching in vain for nearby stepping stones or a handy fallen tree, we mounted a three-pronged attack on the crossing problem. I took Route One, as I was wearing my Gore-Tex gaiters over my boots, and danced across lightly at what I perceived to be the shallowest section. I made it with only one bootfull of cold water. Terry took a practical approach, removing boots and socks and experiencing a refreshing foot wash as a bonus, and Myriam brought out the hi-tech drawstring equipped Lagos Camara bin liners, and despite a puncture from a sharp rock, reported a safe and dry arrival on the far bank.
Minutes later, amid cries of 'Eureka' we located one of David's 'Cistus' Waymarks on a large rock (picture) near the path. Consulting the song-sheets we concurred that this was in fact Waymark '7', and continued on our way rejoicing.
From here it was easy, although a long stretch of surfaced road seemed to go on forever, and we arrived in Aljezur about 5 pm having done about 22km since Marmelete, which had made it another long day for Terry. He settled into his lodgings in Aljezur with another tough day in prospect, with hopefully drier conditions, from Aljezur to Castelejo.