To Boente

The Primitivo Camino joins the Camino Frances in Melide. I got there today just as the slower walkers from Palas de Rei were passing through. It's going be rare to be out of sight of other pilgrims for the next couple days.

One of the things I love about Camino is how it reveals that humans from all over the world experience such similar hardships. The wife of a man from Canada has died, and he says to me "You can't believe the number of tears a body can produce". The young lady from Denmark wonders what to do with her life after her only sister is killed in an automobile accident. The recently retired teacher from Cordaba, Spain explains how difficult the last few years have been because of....(parents are different now, administration requirements, etc.). And these things are revealed to nearly total strangers, even to an "ugly American".

I've offered this quote before, and it is still true: "The Camino is God's dream for how people should be when they're with each other".

We also experience similar joys. Last evening I was part of 24 pilgrims sharing a late dinner. There were 15 countries represented. We didn't all agree on the Isreal/Palestine issue, or many other political, social, or religious debates. (We certainly did not agree on a proper pilgrim bedtime). But we laughed and ate and talked and remembered the last few days. I believe God was pleased.

 Trailside breakfast: pear, cheese, cookies.

 Galician landscape. Much smaller hills than a few days ago.

 I love the way the Eucalyptus trees shed their bark.

 A good crop.

A local out for an evening ride.

Into and Out of Lugo

Another 50+ km in two days, 31 into Lugo yesterday, and 26 to Ponte Ferreira today.

Lugo was surprisingly big, I would guess about the size of Santiago, but much less touristy. The muni albergue there was full last night. The kitchen was such a mess this morning, I was ashamed to be part of this pilgrim pod. I thought I would get ahead of most of them today, but that didn't happen. They continued to gradually show up all afternoon. They are a fun group, just a high percentage of young folks, and probably a bit too much alcohol last night.

More little farms. More hills, but smaller now. More pilgrims, as we are now within the 100 km barrier on the Primitivo route. And more asphalt. Today must have been 90% asphalt. Again, I'm not being critical of the route, I just want to be accurate.

I've tried to slow down, unsuccessfully. I'll have to find another path to walk after getting to Muxia. (I plan to continue there after Santiago).

To "A Fonsagrada" and "O Cadavo"

I'm combining two days. It's just easier that way. Also, these two days were nearly identical in every memorable way. We didn't enter or exit any big city. We didn't pass any grand geologic feature. We simply progressed 50-ish kilometers through beautiful countryside.

We did enter the province of Galicia, but the only noticeable difference is the shells on the trail markers now face the opposite direction (in Asturias the hinge faces the direction of travel, and in Galicia the fingers of the shell point toward Santiago). It's still green, and the hills are still high and steep. This is a difficult Camino. So far, I would say every day would match the toughest days on the entire Camino Frances, with difficult climbs and tricky downhill.

My body is asking for a rest. I'll try to talk myself into a short day tomorrow. We'll see. It's very warm here now, with highs in the mid 80s (F).

 Full moon over the church in Grandas de Salime as I left in the morning.

 Clouds pouring over the mountains in the distance, looked like snow.

 Second full moon picture.

 Traditional round storage building called a "palloza".

 I'm afraid the green-ness just doesn't come through in the pictures!

To Grandas de Salime

I wish I could tell about today. It was just wonderful. We climbed over a high ridge in the first hour, then steep downhill for a long stretch, and ended with 7 km back out of the canyon. See the pictures below.

Unfortunately, I feel like I need to tell a sad story about last evening. A local man attempted to molest two of the young women in our little Camino family. I will not give too many details because I don't want to reveal any identities. The two women were walking very late in the day about 30 minutes apart. There was a very small village of only 4 or 5 houses. As they passed by, he offered them water in his kitchen. After getting each of them in his house, he forced a kiss on them. They were both able to get away with no more physical contact.

I was in the albergue when they came in, understandably upset. We all urged them to call the police, which they did later that evening. The police took a detailed report, and I'm confident they can identify the man.

On the Camino, we do get a little over-confident about the kindness of the Spanish people. They are nearly 100% charitable toward pilgrims. Still, one of the ladies told me today that she never would have gone into his house alone, if she was thinking right. I do know at the end of a nearly 20 mile walk, the fatigue is not only in your legs, it is also in your mind. I've made several poor decisions at the end of a difficult day. I'm glad that nothing more happened to the women, and I was especially pleased that they called the police. We know the police in Spain take pilgrim safety very seriously.

The albergue here is very basic, but it does have everything you might want, including good internet. The town has a nice museum. It's closed on Monday. Today is Monday.

To Berducedo

It was a perfect day for the "Hospitales" route. First, it is named after the three pilgrim's hospitals that were along the trail in the mountains of today's stage, on the long stretch between villages, 1000 years ago.

I mentioned the Napoleon route yesterday. I haven't walked it, but I can be fairly confident the two are similar in distance and elevation. The Napoleon route is infamous because it is the first day for most pilgrims that begin in St. Jean Pied de Port, and deservedly so. Today's stage has some huge climbs that are followed by several more 'down and back up' sections, which makes it a little extra tough.

The middle part of the day was along the top of the highest ridge in the area, so the views were wonderful.

Several folks came in very late, there were barely enough beds in town. It seems like a good group of pilgrims. A good mix of young and old, probably a dozen countries, and at least 4 continents. Some folks on their first Camino and several "veterans". Everyone seems very friendly and helpful.

I am a Casa Marques tonight. It's simple but adequate. It doesn't have a refrigerator, so I had to fry my four eggs for supper. I had planned to boil them and take them on the trail (no food for the first 20 km tomorrow), but I don't like taking them if they aren't chilled. I have cookies and nuts.

Once again poor Wi-Fi. Pictures later.

 I tried to take a picture of a traffic sign before dawn, with the camera in flash mode. The fine mist looks like snow. It was so fine that I didn't even need rain gear.

To Campiello

The day of the hedgehog. About the size of a small loaf of bread. Round like a ball when startled. In the middle of the pre-dawn trail. I wished I could have gotten a picture, but the cellphone flashlight was on, and as soon as I turned it off so that I could use camera mode, the critter disappeared like a magician's rabbit. Poof. Gone. Pretty cool anyway.

Today was quite strenuous, but one of the nicest walks you'd find on any Camino. Several kilometers of dirt track that was nearly 100% covered in shade from the thick vegetation. A perfect temperature (again!).

There were many new faces today. Several of us took 4 days to get here from Oviedo, including me. Most of the new folks did it on 3 and caught the rest of us. Tommorow nearly every person will walk to Berducedo. There is actually a fork in the trail after 3 km in the morning. But the forecast is perfect, so I can't imagine anyone NOT choosing the mountain route. It is shorter and the scenery is said to be similar to the Napoleon Route on the Camino Frances.

I'm going to start saying something each post about the refuge I'm in that night. Hopefully it will help other folks coming along this route. Tonight it is Ricardo's place. I fixed myself an omelet in my cup and Kevin fixed one in the skillet. The grocery store charged me a ridiculous amount, and did not provide a receipt.

Wi-Fi in this region is so poor. Pictures later.

To El Espina

That seemed like a bunch of uphill. Maybe that's the reason I didn't get many pictures along the way.

Last night's convent has an interesting associated legend. It is dedicated to an infant king (or queen, I wasn't able to determine for certain). The legend says the royal toddler wandered off in the woods and was lost for 3 days. When found, he was in the cave of a bear, being nursed by the sow, resulting in a successful rescue. A bit hard for a Montana boy to believe. But it did result in two relief sculptures on the exterior, depicting the story.

Tonight we are in the Albergue El Texu in the medium size town of El Espina. The town seems really small, but has at least 3 grocery stores, one of which doesn't close for siesta. It is a fine place to stay, with everything a pilgrim needs.

The weather cooled significantly today, but the forecast says back in the 70s for the weekend.

 Yesterday afternoon was very dry, so I hung out all my clothing (except what I was wearing). I think I'm carrying to much!

 Can you see the infant human in the bear's grasp?

 Or in this one?

 A curious site. A field of chickens with a scarecrow.

 A nice footbridge. It looks like much of the trail system here was refurbished about 15 years ago.

 If tourist-grinos didn't act like such #!$@%+& they probably wouldn't $!#@&% me off so bad.

 Lots of rocky trails today, this section was nicely covered with leaves.

You can see by the height of the expressway towers, this is steep country.