Brian Slattery

Prologue:  This is an account (still incomplete) of the fifth leg of the great trek from Canterbury to Rome, which I started in 2015, as a young, wet-behind-the-ears hiker, carrying a 65 liter pack that weighed almost as much as I did, with the sun in my face and the wind at my back and a bunch of foolish ideas in my head.  When I get the chance, I'm gradually back-filling my blog of the entire hike, year by year, until I reach my starting point in Canterbury. My boon companion in 2015, and for the subsequent three stages of the trek, was one Michael Slattery, who claims some affinity to me and on that basis presumes to make jokes about my appearance, clothing, mental facility, and sense of direction, but who also manages to get us out of many a tight jam, not all of his own creation.  Unfortunately, Mike can’t make it this year, since he and Laura are awaiting the birth of their first child, who no doubt will join us next year on his father’s back, as we sojourn onward toward th