Trekking the Camino 2019

Today was a little bit of a wake-up call for those of us who had heard that once you got past O Cebreiro (the third and final ‘mountain range’ on the Camino) it was smooth sailing! Not sure what you call the ‘hill’ we climbed today as we left Triacastela heading for Sarria, but I can tell you the 1,170 feet of ascent and the 1,915 feet of descent were anything but ‘smooth sailing’. At 11.5 miles it was not a particularly long hike, but once again we had to navigate some muddy trails and rocky terrain.

Today was unusual in that there really were no towns or villages along the 11 miles to stop and rest, or have our typical breakfast and coffee. The only place on the Camino itself that resembled such facilities was about 2 miles from Sarria.

Sarria is a good size town of about 13,000, with many facilities for pilgrims. It is a very popular starting point for the Camino as it is just over 100 km from Santiago- the minimum required to earn your Compostela (certificate of completion). Seems a little strange to members of our group who have hiked well over 400 miles, that someone walking with us for the next 70 earns the same ‘award’. Buen Camino!

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Well, because we ended up walking four more miles than expected yesterday, our destination today was only 7.5 miles, but descended a steep 2,200 feet into the town of Triacastela.

Not sure what we are going to do with all of our time, since we arrived here before 11:00am? Feeling a little guilty for not walking more, but since we have only 6 days and all of our accommodations are set, we will try to relax a little. Buen Camino!

Not your normal hike in the park, today. By the time we reached our destination in Alto do Polo this afternoon, we had walked 13 miles and climbed over 3,300 feet! And to culminate our ‘fun day’, as we were strolling the last 1.7 miles on relatively modest hills, the last .3 of a mile climbed at between a 15 – 18 degree angle!! We have seen nothing that steep since the Pyrenees.

For the most part the entire day was pretty consistent – WALKING UP HILL. The highlight was reaching the top of the mountain and entering the town of O Cebreiro. A beautiful mountaintop village with spectacular 360 degree views, and numerous shops, restaurants, inns, and the Iglesia de Santa Maria, a church built on the 9th century remains of a Romanesque-style church. Small, but very special and spiritual inside.

Some of the trails we walked today were technically a little difficult, as they were steep, rocky, and very muddy. And I must admit, while we were all kind proud of what we had accomplished by midday, we were knocked down a few notches (while at the same time inspired) when we ran across an 85 year old lady from Belgium, walking in sandals and socks, who was on her SIXTH Camino and walking alone!!

We continue to run across ‘Camino friends’ some of which we have not seen for a weeks. The Camino is very unique in that you are continually finding people you have previously met, despite everyone walking at different paces, staying in different towns, some taking days off, etc. I really can’t overstate how important this is to the overall Camino experience!

Tomorrow is all downhill, sometimes very steep. Wonderful for the knees! Buen Camino.

A very unique 15 mile hike today. Upon leaving Cacabelos this morning we quickly entered some of the most scenic terrain-to-date. Our path took us up and down rolling green hills, with vineyards on both sides and a backdrop of mountain ranges that were suddenly very close to us. I remarked that the people who lived here would have no reason to visit Tuscany …. as they have almost duplicated the beauty.

We dodged rain showers throughout the day, and while we had to put on and take off our rain gear most of the day, we really never got much more than a light drizzle.

Villafranca del Bierzo, at the five mile mark, proved to be a welcome historical break. With a 13th century church, a 17th century church, the highlight was still the 16th century castle – Castillo de Villafranca del Bierzo.

At times during the final ten miles it appeared like our trail was heading straight for a mountain, only to find a narrow crease between two ridges that provided space for our trail and the road in paralleled. While we normally dislike hiking long distances on pavement and/ or walking adjacent to a busy road, with the mountains and fast running rivers we crossed en route today, provided a very enjoyable backdrop. We stopped for the day at the small hamlet of Vega de Valcarse, where our accommodations at a new hostal are exceptional! Tomorrow, the mountains, and Galicia. Buen Camino!

It was four weeks ago today we were leaving St Jean Pied de Port, France and heading straight uphill in the French Pyrenees Mountains. Looking back, we were truly fortunate in our timing. We had beautiful weather, but later learned that just two days after we had walked the Napolean Route they had to air evacuate 26 people stranded on the same path because of intense snow and winds. Today was the first of two – what I will classify as ‘re-positioning days’. Much the same way that a cruise line send ships on seasonal re-positioning trips (e.g Alaska to Sydney in October) today and tomorrow are merely moving us from one steep mountain range to another. After a very long and technically difficult climb yesterday up and.down the mountain where we saw the Cruz de Fierro, today was a relatively flat 14.5 mile urban walk. After leaving Molinaseca early this morning and hiking for 1 1/2 hours we entered the outskirts of Ponferrado – by Camino standards a fairly large city. The sun was breaking through the clouds and illuminating beautiful green mountains just south of the city. It took us another 5 miles to hike through and out of the town as we headed west toward our destination of Cacabelos – designated an official European Wine CIity. It was nice to see hillsides full of vineyards – really the first we had noticed since leaving the Rioja region almost two weeks ago. All day long the mountain range separating the province of Leon from the province of Galicia grew closer and closer. We will finish our re-positioning tomorrow and prepare to climb to O Cebreiro on Sunday. Bien Camino!