My friend and one-time newspaper colleague Bill Osborne writes: “You’re definitely not boring, but here’s a suggestion you might address: Why did you decide to make this trek? What did you expect or want to get out of it? Now that the end is in sight, what have you gotten out of it? What have you learned about yourself?”
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Today was a long walk so I’ll keep this short. Tomorrow is an even longer walk so, if you are lucky, tomorrow’s post will be even shorter.
I don’t know if you are getting tired of me. I sure am.
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Well, so much for the Wasted Purchase Theory: Buying a new rain poncho did not keep away the rain.
It was drizzling when I left Sarria at 7 am. I resisted putting on the poncho, in the hopes that my theory would prevail.
After an hour and a mild soaking, I gave in, broke out the shiny new poncho, and put it on.
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Today was different, for sure.
We walked between a very busy road and a lush, beautiful landscape of forest and streams and grazing fields. Overlaying it all was an elevated freeway.
And all of this stitched it’s way through villages in contrasting states of decay and prosperity, often side-by-side.
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From Foncebadon, the walk to Cruz de Ferro was all uphill, but short. Less than two kilometers.
It was dark, but already the sun was prying itself free from the horizon.
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It’s not like I needed to be up at 5 am today to start walking. Leon is only 18 kilometers from the auberge where I slept — fitfully among the hackers and wheezers. (Swear to god, thought I was in a TB ward.)
Call it the tyranny of the mob.
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Today went by blazingly fast. So fast, it is barely half done and the walk is over.
The walk between Bercianos Del Real Camino and Mansilla de las Mulas was 17 miles and for the first time since I started, I arrived at my auberge before check-in time.
That called for a coffee and pastry at the adjacent cafe.
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I wouldn’t call it a routine day but all went as smoothly as could be expected. Up and out of Terridillos before 7 am. And into Bercianos Del Camino by 1:30 pm
Never saw the rain, just the puddles.
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Walking the Camino Frances requires an endless number of choices that must be made every day.
They start with:
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Today was only a 20-kilometer walk from Hornillos to Castrojeriz, but I still left long before sunrise.
There is something primal about walking alone in darkness, assisted only by a headlamp or the full moon.
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