You know how I said short hiking days mean short reports?  I should have mentioned that long hiking days also mean short reports.  We only arrived in the albergue at 4:00pm and we are both dog tired.  We had a late start because of the breakfast at the one man show in last night’s hotel as well as a desire to be at the nearby Cruz de Ferro only at sunrise. There were also many very rocky trails today that had tricky footing. We had to carefully pick out our steps and that slowed us down. Finally, we stopped many times for photos, two times for extended food breaks and several minutes at the Cruz de Ferro. All that means is we have limited time to shower, wash and dry clothing, read the guide book about tomorrow’s walk, check the weather, book our bags to be forwarded, book another accommodation for the next night, eat dinner, pack everything for an early start and get in bed by 10:00pm. 

Today’s walk started with a slow walk up a nice trail that soon had a beautiful dawn glow in the sky behind us. In front of us were a string of torchlights walking up the trail (I assume a different pilgrim was holding each one).  There were so many stars in the sky and the crescent moon shined just enough to remind me that I should have chosen a croissant for breakfast. The Napolitana was stale.  The timing to arrive at the Cruz was perfect. It was quiet and peaceful and we had several minutes alone at the top where we placed our stones near the post holding the iron cross. We said our prayers and asked God to help with the intentions of several friends. I then took too many photos before heading off on the trail again as it started to get a little crowded.

 

Next up as a short descent to the Camino-famous Manjarin which used to have a mountaintop albergue complete with everything a pilgrim could need except running water, electricity or heating. Now it just houses two small huts with competing men trying to sell stamps for the credential and a few trinkets or fruits.  One last small climb brought us back to the same height as the Cruz de Ferro and it provided a jaw dropping view of all the nearby mountain tops as well as a sickening view of Ponferrada, a long 18km away and many hundreds of meters below us.  It was going to be a long day!

As noted, the footing on most of the trails was tricky all the way to El Acebo at the 11.4km mark. That was where we got our well-earned breakfast #2 including some more delicious tarta de manzana that I told Melanie she has to find a recipe.  We sat with the Polish Franciscan priest who walks in his long brown cassock and he definitely didn’t grow up in Lockerbie.  I guess there is another orient among us that we haven’t met.  

After El Acebo, my knee was hurting a bit and I needed a break from the rocky trail. For about 1.5km, we skipped the rocky trail and walked along the adjacent road instead.  It was a delightful break despite usually hating walking on roads. We rejoined the Camino trail about 1km before lovely and now thriving village of Riego de Ambrós.  Thirteen years ago, almost all the houses looked abandoned and the only life in town appeared to be at the albergue where we stayed and the cafeteria at the end of town, owned by the moth of the albergue’s hospitalero. 

More rocky trail, still always descending, led us away from that village for about a kilometer before briefly rejoining the road.  We should not have been there long though.  We were supposed to cross the road a tackle the steepest, rockiest trail yet few a few kilometers.  We did that two years ago and with a wonky knee and a goofy ankle, I said I was taking the longer road route.  Although it was significantly longer, we took the same time to get to Molinaseca as the vast majority of pilgrims that came limping off the Rocky Mountain.

Molina pesca provided a great roadside table for lunch and drinks. We still had to go 7km to Ponferrada but we were pretty tired and needed a rest. We sat with an Italian man who walks at our speed but doesn’t usually stop, an American from Missouri, and another from Montana who seemed to have misplaced his son on the Camino. 

One last comment from Mr before I fall asleep, I just noticed that my photos don’t do justice in showing how rocky the trails were.  I think that is because where it was the worst, I wasn’t about to get distracted taking a photo. Honest injun.  Cross my heart, not my fingers.

One more last comment…. I just saw the stats for today’s walk. While there was only a total ascent of 264m, the total descent was 1,165m!  We dropped from 1,495m to 518m. Ugh. 

Peace y’all. Goodnight George, Leo and Stella. We love you all.