99 Miles
Woke up early today to get a jump on some miles before it heated up. We knew the last five miles were going to be almost completely uphill. Spencer was out by 6:30 a.m. I followed about an hour later.
It was about 50 degrees out when I started. Very comfortable, except for a high wind. Maybe 10 minutes into the walk. I entered the valley and the wind dropped off immediately.
Much of the first 90 minutes was spent alongside a roadway, on a dedicated path protected by concrete barriers. That was the good side of things. It's uncomfortable at times to be walking on the shoulder of a road where cars are speeding by at 60 mph.
There were several small towns en route to our final destination today. I went roughly six miles in, or about a third of the distance, before stopping for coffee. There I ran into Graham, the gentleman from Australia. Actually he’s a citizen of the United Kingdom, but on permanent resident status in Australia.
Graham did some IT work way back when, and then later moved into sales. We discussed how some people sell their souls in that line of work. It wasn't for either one of us. Then we talked about the movie Glengarry Glen Ross. Shortly afterward we ran into Mike and Manfred, from Germany. That’s the nature of things here. You don't see someone for days, and then you catch them at an outdoor café table having a cup of coffee, or they catch you later on down the trail.
As we get closer to Santiago each day, more and more people are getting on the trail. In order to qualify for a certificate of completion you only need to walk 100 km, so busloads of new people are getting on at small towns and making their way along this part of the Camino. It's pretty easy to tell who the new people are. Their clothes look more freshly pressed, and their blisters from new shoes are more pronounced.
An important lesson about rivers became clear today. The faster the water runs, the steeper the incline. As I climbed to about 3,000 feet, I could see streams driving downhill at an incredible rate. Eventually I stopped to look back at the hill.
Each bend in the road is just a teaser. Every time you think you might have reached the summit, you come around the corner and see that you have more to climb. Periodically, I would check my trusty Camino Ninja app to see exactly what to anticipate for the next trail portion. In most cases I was probably better off not knowing.
If nothing else, my technique with the trekking poles has improved. It really helps to plant them and push down with the arms to get you up hills.
Most of the trail today was not as rocky as it was two days ago. There were plenty of portions where it was just soil, and rock outcroppings could be avoided.
About a mile before reaching our destination, I caught up with Beth and Fred. Shortly afterward we stopped for a light refreshment at the top of the trail. We had made the summit and we deserved an adult beverage.
The town of O Cebreiro is very small, with lots of stone buildings and not a lot of choices for dinner. Google says that 1,300 people live here. I can't imagine where they would put them. The only commerce here seems to be tied to pilgrims transiting the area.
I arrived a little before Spence. There was some drama when I tried to check in and was told there was no reservation for us. The solution was to offer us the matrimonial suite, with one full-size bed. Once again, I had to explain to the proprietor that while Spencer and I were traveling together, we were not "together.” Just when it appeared we might have to take a cab to another town to find a place to spend the night, they discovered our reservation. Somehow it was listed under the first name “Mark,” and not the last name every other hotel had been using prior.
The room is small, but clean. We are both pretty exhausted tonight and won't have any trouble sleeping. We got our wash done and I hung mine out on the line. There are plenty of other good views, but I thought it was important to show I'm keeping up with daily chores.
Tomorrow is a fairly light day. It looks mostly level until the end, where we’ll give up every foot of altitude fought for today. There is a very rapid descent going down. The hills have proven to be more demanding on my knees that way.
We’re taking an early bedtime tonight. There’s no Spanish TV to watch because there is no TV. There’s very limited Wi-Fi in the building, and the walls are thick stone. It's a good evening to catch up on some John McDonald classic writings from the 1960s – a time capsule into what Florida used to be.
We have 159.6 km to go. That’s just 99.17 miles.
