La Faba to Triacastela – 26.7km, 6.5 hours, Hotel Iberik, 53€

Today gave us a really beautiful walk and stunning scenery but it was probably our hardest day too. Because the first kilometer was in the forest, we waited until 7:40am to start so that we didn’t need a torch for long. Also, with the basic itinerary of climbing 400m, walking along little hills and dales at the top then descending 600m, we knew we were in for a long day. Melanie was sure her legs were fine for ascents and flat walks but the descents were going to – and did – cause her to go a fair bit slower so she didn’t aggravate her knees. Finally, it was a long 27km and a good portion of it was in the hot sun. It only got up to 26ºC / 78ºF so we weren’t baked but the radiant heat of the sun broiled us. By the time we reached our hotel, we were well done.

As mentioned, the scenery on this day was only rivaled by our first day’s walk, looking back down at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and the surrounding area in France. Today there were lovely green mountains in every direction until we were on the north side of the mountains later in the day and we had fantastic views of the plains in the north of the country all the way to the Cantabrian mountains.

If anyone is following us, la Faba and Triacastela are both great towns to stop in but I probably wouldn’t recommend staying in both unless you are much better with mountains than we are or you have a cool cloudy day for the stage. We saw many pilgrims lying along side the trail or sitting on the ground nearby, just trying to recover. In addition to our 6.5 hours of walking, we also had almost two hours of total break times during the day. It can be brutal. O Cebreiro to Triacastela would be a better itinerary as well as La Fabe to Filloval.

Some quick notes on the walk included being serenaded by an Italian couple in Laguna de Castilla. It sounded like the Gregorian chant in two part harmony. It really was lovely and I was betting that the town mayor hired the couple to be the alarm clock of the village. As we reached the top of the mountain at O Cebreiro, so did a howling wind. I’m not sure it was welcoming us or trying to blow us over but it was very strong.

Additionally, I should mention that we have a new “monarch of the mountain”. Melanie stayed with me all the way to the top of O Cebreiro. We got to the summit at the exact same time but then she pointed out that she started the day’s walk about two meters behind me so, technically, she was faster.

The long day on the trail means a short blog unless you enjoy my sleep deprived ramblings. Tomorrow is a short day so I hope to be able to write more and tell you how I got a free beer at dinner tonight.

Peace y’all. Goodnight George and Leo. Don’t let the bedbugs bite and try not to let the mosquito bite bother you either. Nana and I were so happy to get a call from you guys and Daddy today. I hope you were good in the grocery store. If not, you’ll have to go to bed barefooted.