Foncebadón to Ponferrada – 27.4km, 6.25 hours, Hotel Los Templarios, 55€

Wow, that was hard. Almost everything today was a challenge but we are sitting in the laundromat in Ponferrada, without any injuries or additional pain. We are also dry and warm. We can’t ask for more than that.

We stopped yesterday at Foncebadón specifically because it was part way up the first big mountain we’ve had in a while. Also, it is also about 2km to the famous Cruz de Ferro, which is second only to Santiago Cathedral as the most important location on the Camino. We hoped to be there at sunrise. The plans of mice and men….

Naturally it was raining this morning when we woke up. It was more of a Baltimore April all-day rain than a Singapore tropical downpour but it was also ice cold and the winds blew just enough to make sure every part of us was soaked. We weren’t the first to leave the village but I later heard a good number of people stayed in their albergue and waited until 10:30am when the rain subsided there. They could only do that if they had very short distance days planned or a taxi booked.

The climb to the Cruz is much clearer now, compared to eleven years ago. The wide gravel path at the top of the town has covered the old grass/dirt/mud single trail. It’s impossible to get lost. The Cruz was not crowded when we got there, only four other people. We all said a prayer, dropped a stone or other symbol to release a burden that we carried, took a photo, and walked on. It wasn’t a day like the last time where people were sitting in the grass and crying. If they did sit in the grass today though, they would really have something to cry about.

The descent from the mountain top is famous for being very steep in places and mostly very rocky with either loose rocks or half-buried sharp edged rocks. Both are equally unpleasant to walk on but add them to the little streams and puddles on the trail and it makes it even more fun. Much of the trail all the way to Molinaseca runs close to LE-142 two lane road so some people just walked down the road the whole way. Camino purists would freak out but who cares. Melanie and I walked about half on the road and half on the trail.

In El Acebo, during breakfast #2, several older women knew that we had walked the trail before and asked for advice as to where they could use the road without adding too much distance. When I showed them on a map, their eyes glassed over and they asked us to guide them. I guessed that settled it then. We took them until just after Reigo de Ambrós by a mixture of road and trail, then at the end of the town, we showed them the deep valley that the trail descended to and they joyfully chose to walk on the road. At the point where the trail crossed the road, I instructed them to take the trail on their right the rest of the way through Molinaseca to Ponferrada.

Once we arrived in Molinaseca, we remembered what a beautiful small town it was. The village is about a thousand years old and many of the homes in the center near the bridge look like the original houses – but really aren’t. We also met a man there from Philadelphia. He had walked the Camino seven years ago and fell in love with trail and particularly the beautiful village of Molinaseca. He went home, sold his businesses, said goodbye to the eight kids and eleven grandchildren and moved to Spain. He seems to be well known in the town and why wouldn’t he be. He walks around in his coat and tie, talking to everyone who will listen. He a character.

Finally, I have to say something about injuries, pains and sprains on the Camino. Melanie and I have had our share on this Camino as well as all of our previous seven long walks. It’s a bit hard to do a 800km walk over 32 days and not get injured somehow. These pains aren’t unique to us. Every town we get to, at dinner time we can easily pick out the pilgrims because they are doing the Camino Shuffle. We know dozens of the people we started with who are now taking busses or taxis between towns or have already gone home. Others have adjusted their expectations and are walking only 15-20km days. Still others are taking rest days every couple of walking days. Injuries range from blisters, severe chafing and lost toenails to sprains, shin splints, broken bones, and heart attacks and everything in between. Injuries aren’t confined to any age group. I must say that I know only older pilgrims who have fallen on this Camino but the young ones wouldn’t likely confess to that. The woman that died from a heart attack in Burgos 50 years old.

It seems as though the younger people mostly get hurt because e they try to push to their limits but they don’t know what their limits are. Older people who get hurt often have some pre-existing issues that were forgotten about or ignore. They are also trying to push themselves to the limit but they find that age has quietly moved those limits. No matter what age you are, you have to be able to listen to your body and have the courage and wisdom to act properly on those signs. Melanie is better than that than I am. That’s why we took a rest day, took some shorter distances days, and popped vitamin P & I like candy. That’s why we both have been forwarding our bags and now bumbags too. You didn’t think Melanie stopped using it because she was worried about what George says about her, do yo?

I’m rambling while half asleep again so I’ll stop. The point about all the injury stuff was mainly to say everyone is at risk but luck and experience as well as being conscious of your body’s changes will help a lot, no matter your age.

Peace y’all. Goodnight George and Leo. Don’t let the bedbugs bite even if they say “please” and “thank you”.