Day 13—Windsor to Chertsey

It was a long day today. It was so long that my sport watch tracking our walks reset itself. According to my phone, which is less reliable than the watch, we walked 14 miles.

And mistakes are being made, a sure sign that fatigue has set in.

I booked tickets for a London musical two nights ago and forwarded the tickets to Anne, who pointed out that they were for that very night.  I should have booked them for the following week, when we’re actually in London.  

This morning I searched everywhere for a lost sock. Anne suggested that I check my feet. I had pulled both socks onto the same foot.

And I lost one of my water bottles somewhere on the trail today.

We left our hotel in Eton—the hotel is the pink building to the right of Anne, the George—

And walked over the bridge to Windsor.

We looked into taking a ferry down the river today. But the timing didn’t work. The only down-river ferry left late in the afternoon.

Maybe a train ride? Anne seemed a little sad that we didn’t explore that option.

The walk along the river today was varied.

Just out of Windsor, we walked through a woods with views back towards the castle.

There were gorgeous stretches of the river.

There were diversions off the Path into gritty urban areas caused by bridge closures.

The walk’s infrastructure needs refreshing. A lot of bridges are out, in some cases it seems for many years. Many of the signs marking the Path are old and faded. Many are missing. On too many occasions we have missed turns or taken the wrong turn because a sign is missing. We rely a lot on the All Trails app for directions. Without the app, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to navigate the Path.

Half way through today’s walk we went through Runnymede, the meadow where the Magna Carta was signed.

Reading the inscription on the Magna Carta memorial and realizing how ancient yet how imperiled these values are today was sobering.

Sobering too to reflect on the hundreds of thousands of lives lost to upholding those values and the sad fact that the fight is never over.

Tomorrow we are headed for Hampton Court. We’re both exhausted. Hopefully we’ll feel refreshed in the morning.