Stage 28: Linares to Triacastela (23 km -- 25 degrees)

Week of Lasts
We have begun our week of lasts. Each day in the week marks the last day of the week that we will walk together to Santiago so today is the last Saturday. Last night I took a picture of the moon outside my bedroom window. As you can see the moon is visible in broad daylight and it made me realize that I have not seen the sun set since I arrived in Spain. I know that it gets dark because we have watched the sunrise almost every morning. Our shadows are long in the morning and this morning we realized that these shadows represent that we have travelled a 'long' distance in the past several weeks and only have 132 km. left to cover.

Once again the walk today was perfect. Even the early morning breeze was mild enough to have Jim remove his jacket and the bottom of his pants before we left the village. The hills in this region are covered with ulex,(the yellow flowering shrub that is the national flower of Galicia) foxglove and heather.  As the sun rose, the hills were ablaze in colour.
Much of our journey today was pastoral and there were several instances when we had to share the route with cattle. It is fascinating to watch the herds person and the dogs move the cattle. At one point, just as we were entering Triacastela, our end destination for today, there appeared to be as many perigrinos on the road as cattle and this seemed to confuse both sets of travellers!
I am still amazed at the size of some of the tree trunks. I half expect to see fairies and goblins peaking out from the many crevices. Maybe I have been walking too long...

Stage 27: Las Herrerias to Linares (13 km--20 degrees)

The Albergue de Los Herrerias was a clean and restful place to spend the night.  The communal supper was a vegetarian delight and would have been perfect with a little chicken or beef.  When we departed in the morning, we were sent on our way by an Albergue volunteer from Colorado.  It was her last day and then she, too, was beginning her pilgrimage to Santiago.  Today's walk up to O'Cebreiro would be the last challenging segment of the Camino and the village of Los Herrerias capitalizes on this fact by offering a couple of ingenious short cuts.  First, you can rent a horse to carry you up to O'Cebreiro and apparently this is kosher with the Pope and the Camino referees as horses have been around since the this whole pilgrimage thing  began.  Second, you can arrange to rent a bicycle in O'Cebreiro and glide all the way down to Tricastela, 23 km away.  Although bicycles are relatively new (circa 1817), they too are a sanctified form of transportation, mainly because they resemble a horse and because the Italians pilgrims find spandex too uncomfortable to walk in.

We started out with a pack of perigrinos, a few of whom were familiar and many, including a Spanish school group, who were new to us.  In a short while we had all spread out and we were alone with cows and herd dogs.  The trip lived up to everything the guide books promised and we felt like we were hiking to the top of the world.  Betty stayed on the inside track and only opened her eyes once or twice to make sure we were still beside her.

O'Cebreiro is a Gallacian village that is right out of an Asterix cartoon complete with thatched stone houses.  We stopped for second breakfast and ordered the local specialty, pulpi con cachelos (octopus with potatoes).  The waitress was suspicious at first, but once she was convinced that we knew what we were ordering, she went back to the kitchen and yelled at her husband to make a supper entre at 9:00 in the morning.  It was delicioso!  We continued on a few kilometres down the road to Linares, a sleepy town with a country hotel and a church that leaves its bell tower unlocked.

Stage 26: Villafranca to Las Herrerias (24 km--24 degrees)

Three routes led out of Villafranca this morning:  one along the highway all the way, one up a big hill for the first part and then along the highway the rest of the way, and one which avoids the highway completely by going over several hills (the Dragonte route).  We chose the second option, and had a lovely hike to our destination of the day.  Our path immediately started uphill, taking us through trees as well as some open areas.  Soon we were walking along the hilltops/ridge, higher than the power lines and we could see beautiful scenery all around us.  Down in the valley below, we observed other peregrinos following the highway route.  All of a sudden, on the path in front of us, was standing a deer!  We approached quietly and she jumped into the grass to our left; we couldn't see her anymore, but the buck was standing there peering at us (for a moment)!  In a few kilometers, we reached a quiet village located on a hilltop and surrounded by huge, lush vegetable gardens.  We stopped for a coffee and the very hospitable owner served us her delicious homemade chips with garlic mayonnaise and chestnut cake (all main ingredients which they grow themselves).
From there, our path descended and then began to follow the highway.  It's a secondary highway, following the valley bottom, and the traffic was light, so we found it ok.  Nearby, we could see the autoroute, going through tunnels and along highly elevated sections way above us and the villages.  I've tried to give a sense of the height of it in one of the photos.  We were so relieved that we didn't have to walk (or drive) on that!
Our supper was a tasty vegetarian meal, enjoyed communally with other peregrinos from Canada and Italy.

Stage 25 Ponferrada to Villafranca del Bierzo (29 km. -- perfect temp 20 degrees)

We left Ponferrada equiped with headlamps, followed the markers and lighted pathway until we hit the 200 km marker!!! It is hard to believe that we are three quarters of the way to Santiago. The core of Ponferrada seemed tired and run down while the outer areas had beautiful huge homes. There was a noticeable difference between the struggling inner core and the wealthy outer limits. This is different from the other larger centres we have visited which seem to have a fairly vibrant centre.

Everything about today's journey was perfect! The weather pleased everyone, the trail was easy on the feet and there was just enough ups and downs to please Jim and not enough to displease Laurel and I. We walked along rivers, through vineyards, picturesque villages, and felt like we were above the clouds are times. I had the opportunity to buy a baguette from a baker's truck that delivers fresh baked goods to the villages. Trucks drive up and down the street honking their horn to alert the townspeople of their arrival much the same as our ice-cream trucks. We also stopped at an unique coffee shop where Jim enjoyed his second cup and Laurel and I drank fresh watermelon juice-Delicious!

'The fruits of some one's labour and a taste of the stolen'
We are certainly back into wine country however there are many other kinds of fruit grown in families' yards. Below you will see grapes, pears, peaches, cherries, limes, unknown but surely a fruit, passion fruit and I threw in one blooming potato plant for my mom. We also tasted some of this fruit when one of us happened upon cherries close to the path.

Stage 24: Foncebadon to Ponferrada (28 km--9-26 degrees)

A howling wind greeted us when we woke at 5:00 in the tiny village (ghost town) of Foncebadon.  It reminded us that the forecast low was 8 degrees.  We all dressed for maximum coverage, Laurel even had socks on her hands at one point.  Our path followed a foggy, cold, wind-swept ridge past the Cruz de Ferro (Iron Cross), the spot where we deposited our stones the day before.  Cows and other hikers appeared and faded away in the mist as we plodded along to the end of the ridge and we begun a decent that would last most of the day.  Down, down, down we went, our minds began to wander as well. "When will it stop, I don't remember climbing that high?", "We missed second breakfast, I'm hungry!", "Where's the Tiger Balm, my legs hurt?"  

After three hours the fog lifted and we saw how beautiful the scenery actually was.  We descended through mountain villages that were just waking up, but had no coffee or bathrooms to offer.  The village of Molinaseca welcomed us at 10:30 and we stayed for a picnic lunch beside the river. The remainder of the walk to Ponferrada was flat and beside a busy highway.  The temperature had risen to 26 degrees by the time we checked into our hotel.

After showers, we headed out for supper at 16:00 and to explore the Templar castle in the centre of town.  We were back in our room and complaining about the heat by 7:00 pm--too cold and too hot in the same day!

Trusting Neighbours

The Maragato people that founded the village of Castrillo de Los Povazares (see Stage 22) were so honest that, in the past, when they went away, they would leave the key in the door so if their neighbours needed anything they could go in and help themselves.  Today we can still see the large and ornate door locks but without the keys.  Either the Maragato no longer trust their neighbours or all the keys have been stolen!

Stage 23: Castrillo de Los Polvazares to Foncebadon (24 kms--17 degrees)

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.