Started 10:07 · Arrived 19:27. 26.9 km, +1,465 m, -1,124 m, 8h29 moving and 9h20 in total. The late start made the day far more tense. The south wears you down with its length just as the north wears you down with its technicality.
Setting off again after the Vizzavona interlude is anything but easy. The shower, the bed, the meal: it all feels good, but it makes the restart more brutal. We leave the hotel late, at 10:07, with almost 29 km ahead: reach E Capanelle, then push on to the Col de Verde.
With a week already in the legs, you know this day has to be managed intelligently. Keep moving for a long time, stay clear-headed, eat properly. This is no longer the moment to play the hero.
« It isn't easier. It's just another way of suffering. »
The day begins with a long climb through forest. Not spectacular, no big views right away, a steady ascent, almost hemmed in between the trees. The south starts quietly, more wooded than grandiose. The waymarking demands attention too: at times the red-and-white marks don't jump out at you, and you find yourself correcting a few wrong turns. Nothing dramatic, but enough to remind you that you can never switch off completely.
At the Bocca Palmente, the forest finally opens up. Monte d'Oro reveals itself, the landscape gains scale. It's an important moment — after that long climb under the trees, the panorama puts energy back into the legs.
Arriving at E Capanelle comes at just the right time. We're hungry, really hungry. The sandwiches appeal to us far more than yet another snack pulled from the pack. We wait a little, but in the end it's a very good decision. Eating something simple and good changes the rest of the day.
After E Capanelle, the trail becomes more rolling. The paths smell of pine, a few rock pools, some streams: the south is less aggressive than the north. But that's exactly where the trap snaps shut: less technical doesn't mean easy. The north wears you down with rocks and bone-jarring descents. The south, for its part, starts to wear you down through distance. You walk for a long time, on a body that's no longer fresh.
Three kilometres from the finish, morale clearly dips. No spectacular difficulty, no dizzying ridge — just a dull tiredness. The kind that comes from accumulation, from the late start, from the nearly 30 km, and from that feeling that the refuge always takes too long to arrive.
We reach the Relais San Petru di Verde at 19:27. The hot showers are a luxury. But we arrive too late for the evening meal. After a stage this long, that's a real blow. We fall back on two tins of ravioli. It fills you up, but it doesn't truly repair the body or the spirit the way a proper meal would have.
This day made me understand the real shift between the north and the south. The south is less punishing, less impressive at times. But it forces you to walk more, for longer, with tiredness already well settled in. It isn't easier. It's just another way of suffering.