Author Archives: Steve Pierson

Day 26, Sept. 25, Cacabelos to Trabadelo

The bridge in Villafranca just before the Camino splits

The bridge in Villafranca just before the Camino splits

The countryside leaving Cacabelos was beautiful! We walked past several vineyards, as we walked through the valley.

The Camino splits in Villafranca, so we had to make a decision on which route- the route uphill, which promised very steep inclines and descents, but much better views, or the road route in the valley. We had already decided on the valley route; our feet and bodies guided that decision. When we got to the split, we found out that if you were taking the upper route there was an hour wait to get on the trail due to a bike race. If we hadn’t made a decision already, that hour wait would have convinced us the valley route was the way to go. It turned out to be a very scenic and pleasant walk along the river and the road we walked alongside was a rarely used local road.

We had lunch in Villafranca at a cafe next to the castle, before ending our day in Trabadelo.
Today was a moderate walk; 13 miles and 86 flights of stairs.

Tomorrow we head to O Cebreiro- this will be another tough uphill climb!

We continue to meet interesting people on the way. We walked with a couple today, and found out he was born in Austin, MN- my hometown! He didn’t grow up in Austin, but had memories of visiting his grandparents who lived very close to where my family lived!

Day 27, Sept. 26, Trabadelo to O Cebreiro

Not my favorite surface to walk on

Not my favorite surface to walk on

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Vicki doing the first reading at the pilgrim mass at O Cebreiro

Today was definitely another mountain climbing day for us! We walked over 13 miles and 238 flights of stairs! The first half of our walk was a gentle uphill climb alongside the river, and through wooded pathways.

In Vega de Valvarce, we had to pause for a farmer and his cattle to cross the road to another pasture. Livestock crossing the path is a regular occurrence on the Camino. If you don’t see them cross, you will see plenty of evidence that they did earlier!!

Shortly after the village we passed near a very high bridge under construction.

After Las Herrerias the climb was very arduous. It felt like it was straight uphill! The views were amazing though! Every time we turned around to see the view, we had to stop a moment to appreciate it.

We crossed into the province of Galicia today. We are staying in the town of O Cebreiro. In the 1970’s, the parish priest of this village was instrumental in reviving the Camino. He published a guide in 1971 for pilgrims, and then in 1982 he marked the entire Camino Frances with the very familiar yellow arrows that provide pilgrims with directions. He scrounged the yellow paint off the various local authority’s road maintenance departments.

We attended a Pilgrims Mass tonight at the Church of Santa Maria. It was special for me, as I got to be the English speaking Lector for the first reading.

Looking at the elevation profile for tomorrow, we hope will be a bit easier.

Day 28, Sept. 27, O Cebreiro to Biduedo

Scenic view from Biduedo on 9/27 5:00pm

Scenic view from Biduedo on 9/27 5:00pm

This morning we left O Cebreiro in the clouds. It was very foggy and misty when we left, you could barely see down the street. The trail took us up to elevations that were difficult ascents. We felt that we really didn’t need to climb these mountains, since- we could not see any view at all, so when we had the chance, we walked along the road for an easier walk.

Some of the walk was along nice forested trails, some was through villages that had a lot of earlier cattle traffic!

We got to our destination the earliest we have ever been done for the day. As we were relaxing on the porch of the bar, we watched the parade of pilgrims going one way, and farmers herding cattle the other direction.

We spent part of the afternoon planning the rest of our stopping points along the way to Santiago, and booking rooms. The number of people walking grows daily, and will continue to increase as we approach Sarria. Sarria is easy to get to by train, and is close to the 100km distance to Santiago that one needs to walk to get the Compostela (certificate that you walked the way). Lots of people start there, and there will also be the crowds we have already met. Nice to know we won’t have to hunt for accomadations.

Day 29, Sept. 28, Biduedo to Samos

9/28 8:00am view, WOW! What a difference a day makes!

9/28 8:00am view, WOW! What a difference a day makes!

Scenic view from Biduedo on 9/27 5:00pm

Scenic view from Biduedo on 9/27 5:00pm

When we left this morning we expected a sunny day. After a short walk we found that we were still high enough to be above the clouds. The views were again stunning. We weren’t sure if we should hang around to watch the sunrise above the clouds or continue on. We continued on, and found that every few minutes the next view was just as spectacular, if not better than the last view. Needless to say our walk today started out much slower than other days.

The first 4 miles were downhill. That may sound easy, but for our old knees and feet, it’s a tough walk. After our initial descent we were expecting a gentle up and down trek to Samos. We got the up and down right- but not so gentle! Many times we would go around a corner and wonder ‘how much higher’ ?

Our granddaughter, Savannah is sure that we are hobos! She told her mom that she wanted to see grandpa sleeping on a bench! Today we got that picture for her!

We walked through several very small, quaint villages that had a population of less than 20 people. Along the way we walked alongside a river with crystal clear water and frequent rapids.

As we approached Samos we got a stunning view of the Monastery. We went to the evening Mass which started with the monks vespers.

We enjoyed Samos which is a very nice river city. Our ‘easy day’ today covered 14 miles, and 64 flights of stairs.

Tonight, Steve wanted to eat a traditional Galitian meal of Pulpo (octopus). I enjoyed a meal of chicken. You decide your choice after looking at his picture!

Tomorrow we pass through Sarria, and now we need to get 2 stamps on our credentials daily! Getting the stamps is not a problem, we are just running low of spaces on our ‘passport’. We should have been more selective earlier, and are annoyed by the places that have stamps that take up 2-4 spaces on our credentials.

Day 30, Sept, 29, Samos to Barbadelo

The sunlight at the end of the tunnel

The sunlight at the end of the tunnel

The walk from Samos was mostly along wooded paths. We had a lot of sections of walking uphill followed by a similar downhill section. Many times we would just look at the uphill section in front of us and know in a short time we would be walking it downhill again! We ended up doing 106 flights of stair equivalents.

Somehow we got off the Camino route a short time today. We don’t know how we got off, but at an intersection we didn’t see any arrows, and also noticed we hadn’t seen any yellow arrows for a little while. Steve checked his app, and could see we were really close- soon we saw a stream of people with packs on and saw Camino markers. We started walking that route – which ended up to be a longer route and added 2.5 miles to our planned walk.

We are at our destination at Casa Barbadelo. We have a nice room and the grounds are a very nice place to relax. We also have a cool pool to soak our weary feet! Ahhh!

Day 31, Sept. 30, Barbadelo to Portomarin

Amazing lighting and perfect timing to capture it

Amazing lighting and perfect timing to capture it

Lars and us at the 100 km marker

Lars and us at the 100 km marker

Woohoo!!

We have passed a huge milepost today- we have less than 100km to Santiago!

This morning we had gorgeous views! God had his paintbrush out, and the sun provided us with amazing moments.

As we walked, we were happy to be greeted by Lars, who we met in Villava. He walked with us for most of the morning, and we took our pictures at the 100 km marker.

Entering Portomarin we were able to see the old Roman bridge, and a lot of the remains of the original Roman village. Due to the construction of the dam, the remains can only be seen during the autumn in times of drought.

Tonight a young woman asked if we wanted to share a washing machine load of laundry. After I agreed, she told me she looks for people that she won’t mind that her laundry is co-mingled with. She asked where we started; When I told her St Jean- (where she started) she said it may sound horrible, but I am frustrated with the people that just started today in Sarria, and are complaining about how hard today was!   Everyone’s Camino is different…

After dinner we attended the Pilgrims Mass at the Church of St Nicholas.

Day 32, Oct. 1, Portomarin to Eirexe

A dilemma! Which way?

A dilemma! Which way? When you get to a fork in the road, what do you do?

This morning we had a foggy start. It wasn’t long before our climb changed to sunny skies above the clouds. Most of our uphill walk was once again on wooded trails. We walked up 140 flights of stair equivalents on our 11.75 mile walk today.

Our walk took us through several (stinky) small villages – again, most of the streets are littered with cow and horse manure. I wonder if they get used to the smell!

We have noticed almost every house in these small Galician villages has a small building called a Horreos. These are stone boxes raised on pillars with ventilation holes along both sides. They are used for drying corn in summer and winter storage.

Another observation:
There is a dramatic change in the Camino atmosphere. There are a lot more people, most are not walking with loaded backpacks, just small day packs. There are a lot more buses. People are dropped of at a location and can choose to walk around the area or walk to the next drop off point. There are lots of groups of people, and they are noisy. The quiet, reflective walks may be in our past.

Day 33, Oct. 2, Eirexe to Casanova

We are both on the walk!

We are both on the walk!

Today we left the sleepy village of Eirexe in the fog. We were hoping to have breakfast in the next village about 45 minutes away. But they were also sleepy, aka closed- as was the next village.

We were finally able to warm up with a cup of coffee in Brea after walking for about 2 hours.

Steve was hoping to have Pulpo (octopus) in Palas de Rei- but at 11:30 when we got there the restaurants in the square were not open yet.

Our village last night was not in a ‘popular’ destination. This turned out to be a good thing. We were not part of the ‘wave’ of the Camino, and we were able to enjoy the solitude for almost 3 hours before the crowds started to catch up to us.

We ran into the local farmer herding his cows in the Main Street. The ‘black sheep’ in his herd was a white cow that had a mind of her own. She wanted to go on a different route, and the townspeople had to help get her back on track.

Tonight we are in an Albergue about 1.5 km off the Camino. I think we are their only guests tonight. It is run by a very friendly family. We hope to be out of the ‘wave’ tomorrow as well.

We have less than 65 km to Santiago. Only a few more days of intensive foot care!

Day 34, Oct. 3, Casanova to Castaneda

Octopus prep at Pulperia Garnacha

Octopus prep at Pulperia Garnacha

Our walk today is supposed to be out of the Northern Spain mountains. That doesn’t mean we don’t have any hills to walk up and down. Our 11 miles today included 90 flight of stair equivalents.

Most of our walk ‘between villages’, was on wooded trails, up the hill, only to come back down and repeat, and repeat again!

We have seen tractors pulling manure spreaders most days. Today we saw one in use. While relaxing on the patio we have seen more than a dozen drive past us. There is a need for all that manure we dodge daily.

Steve was happy to get Pulpo (octopus) for lunch. We found a place in Melide known for Pulpo, and watched it being prepared in the front window.

I hit a wall about 3/4 of the way today, all of the up and down hills took their toll!

Our Albergue was a very welcome sight. We are now relaxing on the patio watching the steady ‘Pilgrim Parade’, and thankful to be done for the day!

We have less than 45 km to Santiago. Just 3 more days of wearing the backpacks all day!

Day 35, Oct. 4, Castaneda to Salceda

A patch of flowers in the forest

A patch of flowers in the forest

Today our day was much like the past several days; small villages, and walks along wooded paths. We started out with mostly sunny skies, but by mid morning the clouds had moved in. It wasn’t long before it was misty, and we needed to put on our rain gear. We walked in a light rain for our last hour.

We heard that the guide books said something like ‘enjoy your walk through quaint villages nestled in the river valleys’. I have decided that really means ‘be prepared for steep up and downhill climbs as you approach the small villages!’

Our 11.5 mile walk took us up and down 108 flights of stairs.

We have less than 30 km to Santiago! We will be there on Thursday.