Today was an absolutely fantastic day. I begun the final third of the Camino, and the scenery really picked up. The flat landscapes are done and the mountains are back. Oh how I've missed the mountains!
Today was also a particularly odd day in terms of our timing. Since we're entering the mountains, and snow is on the forecast, everyone realized they need more gear to be prepared. The only sports shop in town opened at 10:00, so we had to wait until after they open to leave for the day. That meant a particularly slow morning, which was actually very enjoyable! For the most part.
Check out for our albergue was at 8:30 in the morning. I had planned on going to sleep at 10:00 last night and waking up early at 7:00 to write my blog, but since I wasn't tired enough to sleep, I just got it out of the way last night.
So, I wake up at 7:30. Everyone is getting their bags ready and is already dressed. 7:30 would be a late time to wake up normally, but since we have so much time to kill this morning, I figured I'd sleep in. I get dressed and tend to my blisters while Dan has a funny issue with the hospitalero due to the language barrier. It was around 8:00, and the lady seemed kind of peeved that we hadn't left yet, since everyone else had already gone. She told Dan to make sure we were gone by 8:30, and Dan said "no problema." Well, the hospitalero didn't like that. She thought Dan was effectively saying "it's not an issue if we don't leave by 8:30" and started saying "esta una problema!" It was pretty funny to watch. Why make your check out time 8:30 but get upset at pilgrims for not leaving at 8:00?
I finish packing my bag at 8:20 and head out. The group today is Sam, Dan, Margaret, Eva, and I. We get coffee and breakfast at a nearby cafe and play card games. We play BS as we enjoy breakfast. It's fun and passes the time well. Soon it's 9:30, and so we head to the grocery store to get lunch supplies before the sport store opens up. Once that's done, it's a few minutes past 10:00 and we all head to the sports store.
I already have all the gear I need, so instead of going into the sport store, I make my sandwich at an innocent looking table outside. A Spanish man who works at the cafe next door to the sport store comes out and asks me if I need anything as I'm in the middle of putting my sandwich together with the meat, cheese, and bread out. I say no, and he tells me "well this is private!" and points at the table. Geez Louise! The walk sounds nicer and nicer as I rush to get my sandwich put together to get off the upset Spanish man's table. I tell Margaret the story, and she tells me that she got a dirty look from the same guy when she went to use their bathroom. No love for pilgrims here!
Finally, everyone has bought what they need from the sport store and at 11:00 we're ready to go. They all needed something for the snow we're about to encounter today. The elevation gain today is 550 meters, with most of it at the very end of the 25 kilometers to Foncebadón. There should be snow at the tallest point.
Dan leaves to get a new watch strap and the rest of us four head on. Yesterday, we had been sent some insane pictures from a few pilgrim friends who are a day ahead of us and did the walk we're doing today. They had snow covering themselves and were walking in at least 3 feet of snow at some points. Therefore, I had dressed, along with everyone else, for snow. I realize how stupid that was as we walk out of town. I overheat very quickly, and have to remove a jacket and my rain pants. Even then I'm warmer than usual, especially since I had decided to wear my thermals underneath my pants. It gets better, though, and finally we get going at a decent pace out of town. We quickly exit the town and we head toward the mountains closest to us, in the East. The landscape starts changing and is quite beautiful.
Dan catches up to us quickly, somehow, and we all walk together. We start talking about Denim Dan and Pedro Siesta. I ask Dan to come up with a quest he's on, and our discussion gradually expands until we're coming up with a whole storyline for it. It's a mash up between Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Harry Potter. We come up with hero names for each of us (Denim Dan, Coca Cola Grant, Survival Sam, Eva Luna, and Mysterious Mags). Pedro Siesta is our arch nemesis, and his evil plan is to make the entire day siesta just to thwart the pilgrims. We have great fun coming up with one funny little detail at a time. That passes time quickly, and enjoyably, and we soon come up on our second town of the day.
Speaking of Coke, I get one and a free tapa along with it. Oh boy, tapas! The others make their lunch sandwiches and we talk about the Camino so far and listen to some music. Then we head on again, with only 17 more kilometers to go. We leave the town and continue on towards the mountains.
During this section, we just walked. There was a little bit of conversation, some of which I was involved in, but it was mostly silent for a lot of it. That meant plenty of time to pray. I first did about an hour of silent prayer, then my rosary. It was a good time of prayer. No particularly big reflections today, just time spent with the Lord. It was very enjoyable, and was complemented nicely by the gorgeous scenery. In one section, a huge picturesque valley was open to our left. It was also a beautiful day weather wise too!
After a particularly long stretch of being alone, we all walk together for a while, falling in and out of conversation. We pass through multiple towns. The scenery continues to impress.
In one town, we see a nice big and fluffy cat sitting at a table with a bunch of rocks with names painted on them. We feed the cat some treats that one of us had bought earlier. It's a very cute cat. Number 84!
That same town has a nice looking church, and what do my eyes behold than an English sign saying yes, this church is open. What a rarity! I buy Dan a gift at the church gift shop, and get to talk a little bit with a nice German monk named Brother Cassian.
It's getting late. It's about 5:00. We have only 5 kilometers left, but they're the 5 with the most uphill ascent, and there could be snow so it'll be slow. We decide to keep pushing anyways. At first, there was no snow. Then, gradually, there start to be bigger and bigger patches of snow. We climb a huge mountain and get great views to our left and behind us.
The snow patches start getting bigger and even big enough to cover the trail. This basically turns the trail into a slushy, making it difficult to walk it properly. Then, all of a sudden, the sun is swallowed by a huge dark cloud and the temperature drops.
The scenery around us continues to be amazing. With the sun gone, and our steady ascent uphill, it starts to snow. The snow falls harder, and the winds get rougher, as we continue ever upwards. The snow is amazing and I'm actually very warm. It's great to see snow falling, especially since I'm well prepared. It was absolutely gorgeous and started to cover everything. The trail becomes hard to walk, but so does the side of the trail. The walking choices are deep, watery slush or deep snow. We are meeting the remnants of what our friends had encountered yesterday! It's a very fun last half hour and finally we come up on Foncebadón.
We arrive around 7:00 and get checked into one of the only open albergues. The walk was so gorgeous today, and I had such a nice time, that all my unpleasant memories of this morning are gone. It was fantastic. The hospitalero, a nice young Spanish guy, then asks if we want dinner; he can make authentic Italian pizzas at the pizzeria that he owns across the street. The five of us follow him (Margaret goes out in sandals and immediately regrets it due to the slush) and get seated. We talk about how cool today was while playing cards and waiting for the pizza.
The pizza is fantastic and lifts our spirits even more. It's an actual genuine Italian pizza. The hospitalero speaks English, and he plays a few songs for us on his guitar and we sing along. He tells us about how he learned to make Italian pizza and how he came to buy and run both the albergue and the pizzeria. He's a really interesting guy!
After a few pizzas and some cards and time to talk and joke around, we head back to the albergue. We play Guess Who but only ask questions that aren't about physical appearance. It's a hilarious way to play the game, and I'd highly recommend it. Then, I shower and write my blog. Now it's midnight and I must get to sleep. I can barely keep my eyes open. I'm so thankful for today! God is so good. Today is exactly what I've been wanting. Amazing scenery, good prayer time, and great friends. I loved it. Thank you God!