Walk Thoughts #201: Day 19, Leg 16 assessment

Some pedometer stats:
573 minutes walked
55,322 steps
25.51 miles walked
4370 calories burned (prob. 3500 net)

My hardest walk to date, and the early-morning failure of my belt buckle didn't help matters. I thought I was done with steep hills, but they obviously aren't done with me quite yet.

When I reached my destination and made ready to get a certification stamp, I was accosted by an older man who asked me whether I'd be camping. I said I probably would unless there was a motel nearby (I had already checked this before I even set out on my trip, so I knew there wasn't). The man slipped me a business card for Jeok Gyo Jang Motel, which he said was ten kilometers away. He offered to drive me there in his flatbed. I had seen ads for this motel over the final miles of today's walk, but all the ads had claimed the motel was "in the vicinity" (ingeun, 인근) of the dam. Ten kilometers didn't count as "in the vicinity" at all, and something felt fishy. I told the man I'd be camping tonight. He looked disappointed, but he nodded sourly and left me alone after that.

Finding a campsite proved to be a fun mental exercise. There's actually no lack of potential campsites along the river, but it's dicey as to whether the spot you eventually choose will be legal: "no camping or fishing" signs abound. Of course, this is Korea, where people routinely ignore the rules, so signs don't matter much. The spot I eventually found is out of sight of the roadway but in full view of the opposite bank.

I'm an aching mess as usual, but I think my feet will be fine come morning. Tomorrow's walk is short: a tad over eleven miles. I may get my stamp and walk a couple hours farther south just to cut down on the amount of walking I'll have to do on Friday.

So that's the first of my three dragons defeated. What a relief. If I walk extra tomorrow, my second dragon will be much reduced in size, and as I wrote before, my third dragon isn't a big concern because I'll be spending two nights in a motel once I'm done with it. My final day, being of medium distance, will be relatively easy.

So now I must sign off, climb out of this rig, take a piss, and get some shut-eye. Night, folks. Rest well.