Day 8 (Aug 21)

For breakfast, leftover lasagna from last night's feast, and then a fond farewell to Carmen's.

The trail from here winds on decommissioned roads, forgotten underpasses, and suburban bike paths.

One mile is a pleasant clifftop walk with shade trees, benches, and wooden fences. The next we're back in the steep, narrow jungle of the Escarpment's no-mans-land. We're soaked in sweat and trailing clouds of mosquitos, feeding in shifts.

Have you ever heard of the "Devil's Punchbowl"? It's a mostly-dry waterfall that once rivaled Niagara Falls in volume, my map tells me. It's just a tiny climb up this little side trail... Wow, ok, that was steep. It's pretty neat really, but it's hard to take a good picture...

That red roof in the distance is the Punchbowl Market and Bakery!

A fine quiche on their porch, fill up with water, a bagged dinner to go (savory pies), a very good stop.

Back down in the jungle below, the pleasant memory fades quickly. The heat and mosquitos are so bad that in desperation we throw up the tent at the first flat spot of shade we see and jump inside. Only after an hour of Anna Karenina and a slight dip in temperature (the Celsius degrees up here are very large) dare we venture out again. This really helps. We manage a good afternoon's hiking after all, but when we're ready to quit there's no good camping to be found. That lovely level spot with the clearing and bed of pine needles should be just over the next muddy rise, just beyond that thicket of brambles... alas, no.

Up a treacherous cleft, almost at the top of the cliffs above, a tiny overgrown ledge gives us a night's sanctuary. We probably shouldn't be camping here. It isn't really safe, or allowed. And there are near-constant gunshots coming from nearby. Bad hunters, or very persistent shooting range patrons. But we're too exhausted to move now. That shooting has to stop eventually.