Cathleen went to have a coffee with Sophie. Sophie lost her earbuds on the trail yesterday, then got lost herself, circling around an extra 6km. When she arrived at the albergue for the night, someone had found her earbuds on the trail. Her book, her tobacco, her earbuds all returned to her. Cathleen said they talked about what Sophie was REALLY trying to "lose" or "let go of" on this trip. If she could lose that, maybe she'd stop losing everything else! Everything else was getting returned: "Nope, that's not it!" Lol.
Back in our room, I got a call from Sophie. She asked to borrow 2€ to pay her coffee bill. Something was wrong with the cash machine and she had no money on her (she did have it in her account). I ran down to lend her 2€ and realized she had NO money in her wallet. She looked scared and we were leaving town, so I pressed a 50 note into her resistant palm and told her to pay me back when she sorted it out. "We've built a week of trust," I assured her.
The hotel offered breakfast included, and it was quite generous: our pick of pastries, DIY sandwiches, and coffee (including decaf!). We sat watching the news unfold on the bar's TV: the shootings in the USA were just the latest of the week's tragedies, as ISIS/ISIL bombed several locations globally. The weather came on, showing 40+ degrees all over Spain, except a little strip across the north, where we were, was only 30+ degrees. ;)
We checked out of the hotel, then stocked up on groceries and water, because the day's walk to La Mesa was going to be a long one (22 km), through a remote area with not a lot of services.
We headed out of town on the highway at 10:45am. So much for an early start to our long day! The signage on the highway was poor, as we didn't see a Camino sign for quite a while. We worried that we were not on the path, even though HERE maps showed us that the highway WOULD take us to the next town on the itinerary.
Finally, we got off the highway, and I forged ahead, glad for my permethrin tights in the high grasses.
While adding pins to my map, I noticed that the map looked like a horse's head! I was walking up it's "mane."
I passed a young girl walking with her dad, and thought of the many hiking-portage trips I did with my dad when I was a child. I thought back to the insight I had around the anger I felt at Cathleen being slow in the morning, and how it connected to my dad leaving me behind in the mornings when I wasn't ready in time. I realized it was really fear of being left behind, and that I was still subconsciously irrationally afraid for Cathleen and myself, even all these decades later.
Q: how can you tell someone is an INTJ?
A: it takes them 7 days to figure out what they are feeling. ;)
<Comic: I'll get back to you... I'm angry>
Where the path became a river, I caught up with the Californians we had met at breakfast. Not long after that, Cathleen caught up with me. When she stopped for water, I continued on. I had been drinking my water as I walked.
Just as I reached the horse's "ears" on the map, I passed Sophie!! She was washing her pot in a stream. I couldn't figure out how she had gotten ahead of me! She must have left Pola de Allende even before we did, perhaps right after I saw her. Cathleen and I had had breakfast after seeing her, which probably ate up an extra hour this morning (pun intended).
After leaving Sophie, there was a really steep incline. I realized the horse's head was a mountain!!
The path followed the river. It was very scenic. Yet very challenging. Everywhere I tried to stop to rest, red ants would swarm my feet.
Somehow I missed Peñaseita and La Reigada, though I saw the turnoff for the albergue. I finally rested near the tip of the horse's "nose." Finally, no ants!!
The path just kept going up and up and up. I began walking slower and slower and slower. Even stopping and resting did nothing, as I was simply re-engaging the same muscles as soon as I started up again.
The path crossed the highway, and a man walking downhill cruelly told me I was "almost there." There were still many more hills to go. (Note to all hikers: when you are walking downhill, never tell someone going uphill that they are "almost there." 10 mins to you is up to an hour to them!)
At the top of a particularly steep section, I collected some "Victory crystals" from the path. Just then, a dozen motorbikes screamed past on the highway. The sound echoed my screaming hamstrings. I just wanted to use ANY other muscles!! But the path went ever up.
While earlier, the path had been through the woods and so was often shady, it became more and more exposed, the higher we got. I pulled out my umbrella. What genius! It worked great!!
Eventually, I started to feel a little nauseous. Why did I pick today to carry my heaviest pack yet? Oh yes, no services, no fountains, and the leftover wine for Cathleen's birthday tonight at the albergue (in my Sawyer water bag).
Disappointed by the one "fountain" being more a horse trough, with many tadpoles but without running water, I still splashed it on my arms and felt instantly better. I considered using my Sawyer straw, but decided I still had enough water in reserve.
The last section, heart pounding, I could understand how some senior citizens have died of heart attacks on the Camino
As if to confirm my intuition, at the top stood a cross.
I staggered around at the top for a bit before I realized that the little van parked at the top was selling food and drinks! It had two little tables set up with patio umbrellas. So I ordered a lemonade and sat, enjoying the view of the mountaintops. Cathleen at 1:30pm, about 15 minutes after me. She had put in her earbuds and it helped propel her up the hills in record time.
I mentioned that I kept thinking there couldn't be any more hills to climb, and then there were. Cat said that was just like her whole life!
After sitting there almost an hour, I had started getting cold. We set out on the very steep downhill trail. I kept telling myself "Don't look down!" because every time I did, I felt a little vertigo. I focused on my feet instead.
At Montefurado, another pilgrim asked about water, but I didn't think there was any. She found a tap there, which I had missed. I looked around but didn't see the statue of Saint James that was supposed to be there.
We were warned that the signage out of Montefurado was poor, but it appeared someone remedied that problem! ;)
There were three gates. I had lost my pashmina at the third gate, and when I went back to find it, Cathleen was in the act of picking it up.
The last part was pretty flat. The winds on the crests were strangely both warm and cool, in alternation. I was refreshed and ebullient.
I loved the views!!! I loved the day!!!!
At 4pm, I arrived in Lago, pop 26, alt 885m. During the last steep hill into town, between the church and the bar, I could imagine Cathleen cursing when she came up them behind me. Seeing the Bar Seraphin was like seeing paradise. A ray of light shone down on it, like a sign from God.
I ordered yet another lemonade, and a tortilla a patate (potato omelette). The hostess could see my duress and carried all my food out to the patio for me and adjusted the patio umbrellas. Then she brought me a little platter of olives!! After a few minutes in the shade and breeze, I felt good again. I felt like I was *finally* slowing down, both physically and internally; my baseline was becoming less tense. In contrast, Cathleen said the hour coming into Lago was one of her worst, mentally.
Cathleen arrived 15-30 mins after me. Getting ready to leave at 5:30pm, I discovered that she had accidentally paid for my food along with hers!
I kept trying to message Sophie, to tell her where we were, but I had no cell service in Lago. I tried again from the little hill above town as we walked out.
Sophie had texted:
Hey! I saw you in Lago! Are you ok? A family picked me up... I didn't have water anymore and was bitten by a lots of tics :((
I only had the opportunity to text "omg," then lost cell coverage again, as we walked through a gorgeous pine forest. Cathleen said she cried the whole walk.
We made 4km in 40 mins, as the trip between Lago and Berduceo was fairly flat. We felt good to go the last 4.5km into La Mesa.
Immediately out of Berduceo, we started going uphill. Both of us started cursing the Camino altitude guide: did they not understand what "flat" meant?! Because this was not it!! It finally leveled out, but then the last couple km were along the highway in bright sun. I draped my pashmina over my head.
A white horse above me whinnied his approval at my progress. I kept looking back as the road hugged the curves of the hills, but did not see Cathleen behind me until I was nearly in La Mesa. I knew I must have been close to town when I saw a family with baby strollers and flip-flops casually out for an evening stroll.
I couldn't get cell coverage again to tell Sophie we would stay in La Mesa after all. However, I did get a message through to Colin, right before we hit town.
At the first house in town, a woman called out to me in Spanish. She told me the albergue was locked, but the key to the albergue was under "something" near the door, and gestured like a pillar. I went past the church to the albergue, where I looked high and low, under everything, until a local man, who had been working in the garden of the house next door, came over and lifted the stack of newspapers. Producing the key, he laughed, "everyone always asks me!" He then went on to ensure we had food, and said we could come to his house if we needed food. I was touched. I suspected that many pilgrims did not do their research, and arrived in this nearly 20km stretch between Berduceo and Grandas La Salime with little to nothing, expecting there would be a bar or store. With a population of 32, it had neither. What it did appear to have was very kind people with generous hearts.
About 30 mins later, Cathleen arrived. She had not understood the lady at the white house, so the lady followed her in and spoke to me. She took our payment and gave us a sello. We bought disposable sheets and I sprayed our beds with pyrethrin, because the place looked a little sketchy. We both felt lucky that we were the only ones in the whole albergue, whereas the two we passed on Berduceo looked packed.
We found rice in the cupboard and made a real meal!! We drank the wine from my Sawyer sac. Then I presented Cathleen with her birthday "cake," a hostess-type treat that had mostly melted on the way. She was delighted. Cathleen asked, "Did you see the sign entering town actually said 'A Mesa,' not 'La Mesa'? That's me: a messa on my birthday!"
We played a sharing game on the benches outside until the sun went down. The questions involved topics like our bucket list, this trip, and our childhoods. We shared our strengths and our struggles, what we loved and what inspired us. We cried a little and expressed gratitude for each other and the trip.
What a challenging day this one was. No rain, but the heat and up hill slogging must have taken a toll. I am so happy to hear the wonderful completion of the evening - sharing your experience and thoughts.
ReplyDeleteWhat do the farm fields produce? Grain, grapes, vegetables, or just used for cattle grazing? With such spread out small communities, they might need to be self sustaining. Or are they all more closely connected by roads than it seems?
We are seeing a lot of corn. I think it's an important crop here, because we've seen it dried in large "braids" off the traditional storage huts. Many fields have cows.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct about self-sustaining. Almost every house has a large mixed vegetable garden that appears to be for personal use. Many also have their own chickens. A few had a couple goats, and one had two pigs! And yet, when we talk to the locals, they think nothing of driving to the nearby towns to run errands. They are all definitely connected via paved "highway," although these are generally much smaller than in Canada. Mostly two lanes.