A Picota to Cee – 26km, 6.5 hours, Wednesday, 2 October

We knew it would rain a lot today and it did. We didn’t know exactly how far we were walking but estimates ranged from 22km to 24.5km. We went over that by a bit but it was okay. I am sure I’m forgetting some other challenging days of walking in the past but I don’t recall ever being happier to arrive at a hotel / B&B / albergue before than I was today.

For the first 15 km, the rain varied between a soft rain and a hard one.  We also had a slight mist, a light drizzle and a hard drizzle  but those all happened at the same time as the rain so it didn’t matter much to us.  The last 11km did have some sections with more of a drizzle but that didn’t matter much.  We were both soaked to the bone from head to toe.  We had to pass through so many puddles and temporary rivers in the mountains  that the “soaked toes” was and understatement. We were often half way up our shins in icy cold water. In fact, when I finally got my shoes off, we found a baby penguin swimming around inside. 

Our plan today was to leave the hotel at 7:00am, walk 3 or 5 km, then get breakfast. Melanie rightly vetoed that idea as we were about to leave 30 minutes late (my tardiness) and it was already pouring. The hotel breakfast was available at that time so we agreed to eat there then walk straight through the 22km-ish day.  We still stopped at the 5km bar for a toilet break though and I can’t just not order anything but still use their toilet.  So I got a chocolate-filled croissant and a peach juice.  Melanie got a banana. Then I got sick.

Before we get to the fun part though, I have to say the bar was lovely and the hostess was very kind.  Her husband was there with their one year-old daughter who we had fun waving back and forth with her, making her smile with funny faces and just watching her interact with her parents.  At one point the, the father brought her over and sat her on the bar near by us.  I had just pulled out my phone for something else but I was reminded that my wallpaper photo was that of my grandson, Leo – also one year-old.  I showed his picture to the daughter and I am pretty sure it was love at first site. Her whole face lit up with a smile. The father and I started to negotiate the dowry.   The more photos of Leo I showed the girl, the more excited she got.  My future granddaughter-in-law is a Spanish cutie!

After agreeing to a wedding date, Melanie and I went out to the patio to put our wet rain gear back on over our wet clothing.  As we did though, I was feeling a little bit queasy. After only about 200m on the trail, I was feeling awful.  Did I eat the croissant too fast?  Did I get sick from it?  What’s up?  With every step, I felt worse and worse.  There was a huge knot in my stomach and it slowly worked its way up to my throat and then back down before repeating the cycle.  My guesses were food poisoning, heartburn, acid indigestion, acid reflux or possibly, a direct but clandestine assassination attempt. I stopped a few times to attempt to induce vomiting but I wasn’t successful.  Of those illnesses, I had only had food poisoning before so I wasn’t sure how the other things were supposed to feel like. I was starting to feel weak and unsteady on my feet but we were out in the middle of nowhere on a muddy mountainous path.  After walking slowly about 4km, we stopped in another cafe to get out of the rain and I had an isotonic drink. That seemed to help a little but I was also considering any other options.

Shortly after leaving the town where that bar was, this was a tricky part of the trail. There appeared to be a couple of missing directional signs.  We went up a road and never saw a sign saying to turn either way to continue on the Camino.  We came to a T-junction and there were no signs to go left or right.  My internal compass said that Cee was to the left but there weren’t arrows either way.  I did however see two or three small groups of pilgrims to the left though.  That may be a good indication but the two times in the past two weeks that we accidentally went off trail were when we were just following the pilgrim in front of us.  I walked a way up the road but I was nervous, I turned to look behind us and there was a French couple, obviously looking at us and their guide book but confused.  I signalled to them that I was not sure we were on the right path but I was looking for a sign.  Just then eagle-eyed Melanie saw a yellow arrow in front of us so we kept going – despite my inability to see the said yellow arrow!). Sure enough, there was a dirt road on the left and I saw a Camino directional pylon there.  The pilgrims in front of us did not go this way but I checked it out and, sure enough, we were on the right path. I signaled as such to Melanie and she waved the French couple to come too.  

Now, I only told this story for two reasons.  First, I only continued up the road because Melanie said there was a yellow arrow on a pylon.  It turned out to be just a yellow leaf in front of a rock.  That must have been our guardian angel that put that there.  The second reason for the background story was because the French couple took a long time to catch up with us despite my getting sicker and slower.  Melanie was in front of me and she later told me that the couple thanked her for her help in keeping them on trail.  In fact, they were very, very grateful for the help and said so several times.  The problem was that Melanie had not realized it but I was stopped by the side of the trail, bent over double while holding on to a tree for support and sticking my fingers down my throat, trying to get whatever was making me sick out.  That was my condition when the French couple passed by me.  The only thing they said to me as they walked past was either a subdued “merçi” or a disgusted “oh mercy!”.  I’m not sure which but so much for caring about fellow pilgrims.

Just so I can close out the sickness problem, I still don’t know what it was or why it happened but about 8km after eating that chocolate croissant, I had several uncontrolled burps about a dozen times over the next kilometer.  With each burp, I felt a bit better and the lump going up and down my torso go smaller and smaller.  I think I was about 18 months old that I burned like that. At any rate, I feel fine now but I don’t want that happening again. 

The final story of the day happened at the hotel reception desk.  As we arrived, we were definitely tired and waterlogged.  We gingerly pulled off and shook off our ponchos just outside the entranced and gingerly made our way to the reception.  A pilgrim was checking in at the time and looked at us as the drowned rats we must of looked like.  She said “It was a mess out there today and a difficult route”.  We thought it an understatement but agreed wholeheartedly with her.  Then she asked something that nearly broke my belief in the Camino spirit. She said, and I quote it exactly, “Did you take a taxi too?”   I’m wondering, would that have been a justified homicide?

Finally, I have to say Happy 70th wedding anniversary to my Mom & Dad.  They are dancing a slow dance in heaven, embracing each other as never before.  

Peace y’all

Goodnight George and Leo (and fiancée)