Camino Blanco de Santiago
October 31 – Day 26
I´m in the tiny village of Lubian where you have to be a mountain goat to be a resident! The village is hemmed in by mountains on all sides and most of the ridges are filled with wind turbines. As you might guess the highest point of the village is where the "ayutanmiento" (city hall) is located and where they have internet service.
Just what I needed, another climb.
I completed my walk over the first pass of the Via de la Plata and arrived here at about 3:40 this afternoon. It took me about 7 hours to walk here and I pretty much walked straight through other than a 15 minute stop for coffee and a bocadillo at about the halfway point.
And yes, it snowed for about an hour at the highest point. So now I have experienced pretty much everything.....heat, cold, wind, rain, snow, hail, thunder, lightning....not much left.
So after 26 days I have completed 783 km with 224 km to go. Steps are at about 929,000. I should be in Ourense in about 4 days where I will take a rest day. Tentatively I should arrive in Santiago de Compostela on November 9 or possibly 10.
Day 25 (October 30) was a 38 km walk from Mombuey to Puebla de Sanabria where for the first time I actually thought about quitting or at least trying to get a ride.
Everything seemed to be conspiring against me.
For the fourth day in a row I was faced with bitterly cold conditions....freezing temperatures and a headwind of 20-30 kph. It was cloudy and dark and periodically the rain would come down. If I had not been able to buy a pair of gloves in Calzadilla de la Tera the previous day I would have had to turn around. I really don´t have the clothing to handle these conditions. Everyone I meet talks about the unseasonably cold conditions (muy frios) and in fact in one of the bars I was watching the news and they were interviewing some peregrinos who were walking over one of the pases in about 15 cm of snow. The headline was "Camino Blanco de Santiago".
In addition I must have eaten something that disagreed with me and my left leg was really sore. I finally had to take a packet of ibuprofen. Had to take it dry and then wash it down with cold water...not nice stuff.
Lastly I decided not to have breakfast and coffee until Cernadilla about 8 km from the start where my guidebook indicated that there was a bar. The bar was no longer in operation and I had to walk another 9 km (about 2 hours) before I finally found somewhere to warm up.
Other than that it was a great day for a walk...beautiful scenery, forests and fields and fall foliage. In any case I prevailed and now I know that I will make it no matter what gets thrown at me.
I´m in the tiny village of Lubian where you have to be a mountain goat to be a resident! The village is hemmed in by mountains on all sides and most of the ridges are filled with wind turbines. As you might guess the highest point of the village is where the "ayutanmiento" (city hall) is located and where they have internet service.
Just what I needed, another climb.
I completed my walk over the first pass of the Via de la Plata and arrived here at about 3:40 this afternoon. It took me about 7 hours to walk here and I pretty much walked straight through other than a 15 minute stop for coffee and a bocadillo at about the halfway point.
And yes, it snowed for about an hour at the highest point. So now I have experienced pretty much everything.....heat, cold, wind, rain, snow, hail, thunder, lightning....not much left.
So after 26 days I have completed 783 km with 224 km to go. Steps are at about 929,000. I should be in Ourense in about 4 days where I will take a rest day. Tentatively I should arrive in Santiago de Compostela on November 9 or possibly 10.
Day 25 (October 30) was a 38 km walk from Mombuey to Puebla de Sanabria where for the first time I actually thought about quitting or at least trying to get a ride.
Everything seemed to be conspiring against me.
For the fourth day in a row I was faced with bitterly cold conditions....freezing temperatures and a headwind of 20-30 kph. It was cloudy and dark and periodically the rain would come down. If I had not been able to buy a pair of gloves in Calzadilla de la Tera the previous day I would have had to turn around. I really don´t have the clothing to handle these conditions. Everyone I meet talks about the unseasonably cold conditions (muy frios) and in fact in one of the bars I was watching the news and they were interviewing some peregrinos who were walking over one of the pases in about 15 cm of snow. The headline was "Camino Blanco de Santiago".
In addition I must have eaten something that disagreed with me and my left leg was really sore. I finally had to take a packet of ibuprofen. Had to take it dry and then wash it down with cold water...not nice stuff.
Lastly I decided not to have breakfast and coffee until Cernadilla about 8 km from the start where my guidebook indicated that there was a bar. The bar was no longer in operation and I had to walk another 9 km (about 2 hours) before I finally found somewhere to warm up.
Other than that it was a great day for a walk...beautiful scenery, forests and fields and fall foliage. In any case I prevailed and now I know that I will make it no matter what gets thrown at me.
Comments
It sounds as though you have had the brunt of the sudden - unseasonable - cold spell. Keep warm, stay safe, listen to the locals when you head into the mountains. Ultreia!!
Hugs,
Sil
My husband is actually the peregrino - I'm in Canada trackng his progress. We have a website with way more information on his walk and the reason for it. Here's a link if you're interested:
www.haloranch.ca
I have also posted the blog address on the Santiagobis Forum where a couple of members were interested in walking the VdPL this fall. It is so much more useful to read a 'live' blog but I think they may change their minds when they read his blog!
Big pilgrim hugs to you both,
Love,
Sil
I just browsed through your blog and it's the best and most comprehensive I've seen anywhere on the Camino. Hans will really enjoy going through it when he's back.
I couldn't find anyplace on your blog to leave comments. You can email us at walktobeatpolio@xplornet.com, which is the email we've posted on our website. Hans can also access this when he's someplace that has internet.
Yes, it's worrisome to read what he's going through. At the same time, I'm grateful to be here in the comfort of our home and not out there fighting the elements.