7 days to go

Fonfria Dining Hall, Summer 2022

Fonfria, Galicia.  June 25.  I suppose with elevation gain I walked 30 kms today, the last six with grim determination; my feet were killing me.  Also, in the past week we've gone from heat stroke conditions to hypothermia conditions, granted we crossed a mountain today, but definitely cold. Well at least while the rain fell, and then the sun would come back up and steam would rise up off the asphalt and the rain gear would feel like overkill.

Sunday, June 26.  In the morning it's 1degree Celsius. Granted, it is around 4,000 ft.  I stopped in the next village for a coffee to warm my hands.  I'm not sure how to properly pack for temp swings between 104 and 33 degrees, but I'm wearing most of my clothing this morning. Because of where I stopped last night I'll have to walk almost 30 kms today. I lay awake anxious, thinking of my options. 1) Take a bus down mountain and walk from there (steep descent); 2) Walk as much as I can find some way to get to albergue, even if I have to call a cab; 3) Send pack using transport.  In the end I chose option 3. I woke up early enough, but by time I got around to looking at bus schedule, I'd already missed early one, 6:15 am. Next was at 10 am, which was too long to wait.  The thing about transport is you have to know ahead of time where you will stay, and you have to get there. It loses spontaneity, but does force you to proceed.  I did make it to Sarria, many of the shorter options not open.

Biduedo to Triacastela, Summer 2022

(Written on July 4, after the fact) I ended up shipping my bag 3 days in a row, and when I carried it again, more than 30 kms, and missed my place and had to do an extra couple kms to get back to it, I'm not sure my feet felt a huge amount of difference with or without, though some of the descents were dicey with the weight.

And on that note, the elevation maps are a bit misleading on the last five days, there is so little flat walking, going uphill is easy in sore feet, the downs are the hard part, which seem true given all the bloody knees from slipping, and dead toenails. Savor the flat and the dirt paths.

And also on that note, some of the paths really should be retired, or at least given more of a sense of how bad they are (official route down to bridge in Portomarin, basically a narrow chute of steep rock, which I only made down because a man suddenly appeared behind me and grabbed my arm to guide me down, basically, adding stability.  And that was without a pack.) I did make it across bridge without a panic attack. I focused on the woman's bag in front of me until she stopped mid-bridge. And it's easier on the left side for some reason. I was thinking I might have to ask for help, luckily I wasn't alone this time.

The other treacherous descent is the official route out of Melide.  The C Complimentario being a better option.