Rather than have lunch in this larger village, we decided to hike on to the nearby village of Broad Campden, where we had a great lunch and a few beers at the Bakers Arms. One of our fellow hikers was experiencing some blisters on his feet, so he elected to take the bus from here into Moreton-in-Marsh . . . but don’t think he was making excuses for not wanting to hike; he was actually trying to get his feet back in shape for running a half marathon he was registered for in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia on the upcoming Sunday! Unfortunately, the scheduled bus never arrived, so the barkeep offered to take him into town, since she was headed that way and we all arrived about the same time!

After lunch, we left our marathoner (upper left corner above) in the pub and headed southwest down Monarch’s Way heading to the next village of Blockley, about and hour away. One of our steepest climbs (or at least what seemed to me to be steep) was ahead of us and so our group spread out as the faster climbers lead the way, searching for the correct trail at the top of the hill.