Today, we had big changes in the weather and the scenery -- both shifts were quite welcome! The temperature cooled down, which along with a breeze, made our hiking much more comfortable than the sweltering heat of the past few days. The trail was more shady and took us higher up, though at a gentle rate that was not tiring. Since sun-up, ahead of us, we could see the mountains of Galicia, and reached them by the time we stopped for the day at 11:30 am. Along the way, we passed through pretty villages of stone houses, roses, bustling albergues, and coffee stops. It was a thrill to share the trail for the first time with peregrinos travelling on horseback; when we arrived in Foncebadon (our stop for the night), there they were again, the horses feeding on grass while the pilgrims grabbed a coffee! Other animals we saw today were cats, dogs, rabbits, cows, a donkey, a fox, and a woodpecker. Foncebadon was practically a ghost town, down to a population of just two people in the 1990s, but has been revived by the opening of four albergues in recent years, thanks to the increasing popularity of the Camino.
Two kms past Foncebadon, is the highest elevation on the entire Camino. An iron cross atop a high pole marks the spot. Over the years, peregrinos have placed stones there from around the world, accompanied by prayers and messages of hope, so that now there is a large pile of stones at the base. We walked there in the afternoon, and added our stones and wishes, too. Early tomorrow morning, we will pass there again, but it most likely will still be quite dark.
