The distance we walked today was short, only 14 km (8 miles). The hike was relatively easy; we did this route in 2017 for our first Camino. We notice how the villages have changed over the years and how positive the tourism from El Camino de Santiago has been for the local economy.
Today, we stayed at Pazo de Brandeso, near Arzúa. It is a historic manor constructed in 1554; the Pazo showcases the architectural elegance of the period. We had the opportunity to tour the property and learn about its history and its owners.
We had a good evening in Grandas de Salime. We had dinner at Cafe Restrepo. This cafe/bar is a good place to spend the afternoon. It was different from the other cafes we had visited in other towns. It had good music and eclectic decoration, and the owners were very friendly. There were a good number of pilgrims here, and we had the opportunity to chat and meet new people.
After a good night’s rest, we found that one hiker in our group could not walk today due to severe knee pain and tendonitis. We arranged for her to take a taxi to the next city and rest for the day. We were aware that today’s journey would be another 28 kilometers (17.5 miles)of descending and ascending hills.
We left Grandas de Salime, which is in the Asturias region and started our journey toward A Fonsagrada, a town in the Galicia region. Most of the hike was good, but the last part leading into A Fonsagrada presented a challenging uphill climb, where we ascended 120 meters (400 feet). After hiking for six hours, it was cruel to finally see the town at the top of a hill. As we were ascending the last hill, we heard someone shouting behind us. Of course, I wasn’t the only one who used the F word and cursed at the sight of that daunting hill.
It has been raining for the past two days, and today we had to hike. I chose Alviso because it looked like an easy hike. It had a flat 9-mile trail. It was a great decision to go today because it was overcast and there weren’t any trees. Well, after three miles on wet gravel, which was an easy walk, we got to a muddy trail. For the next six miles, we walked on the worst terrain. I didn’t know how heavy my boots and hiking poles could be when the mud accumulated on them; it was almost impossible to walk in some areas. At the end, it took us four hours to walk 9 miles. When we finished, we were dirty, tired, and hungry.
I’m afraid that on El Camino, we will have some days with this kind of terrain due to the rain in spring.
I’m glad we did it because now we know what to expect and how long it could take us to walk in mud with some extra weight on our shoes and hiking poles.
Today we did eight miles again. It was an easy and quiet hike. We passed a few cyclists and had the opportunity to admire the valley and the beautiful spring flowers.
Also, today I watched the movie The Way, with Martin Sheen and Emilio Stevens, so that my children could have an idea about the walk and the places we will be.
It has been a month since the last time we did a hike due to bad weather and Jeremy having the awful flu, and my mild flu. Today we finally had the energy to go for a walk.
Today was a day when we didn’t really want to do a long walk. After a delicious and unhealthy donut and coffee breakfast at Psycho Donuts, we headed to Saratoga Open Preserve. We faced our steepest hill so far at the beginning of the trail.
TrekTok 