We had a spectacular—but very difficult—day hiking today…
But first, starting last night, we took an early evening (Spain-style) walk around Soto de Luińa to get a sense of our surroundings. It’s an ancient pilgrimage town, part of the Camino since at least the 16th century. The parish church of Santa Maria was a pilgrim’s hospital (Hospital of the Rosary) from 1713 to 1811.
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| Church of Santa Maria |
Note the time on the clock: 9:45 pm, with very bright skies in the background. Spain is on the “wrong” clock. It should be on GMT + 1, the same time zone as London. Back in the 1930’s, Franco declared that Spain will be on the same time zone as Berlin, their fascist allies—or GMT + 2. So the sun rises and sets unusually late—hence the clear skies at 10:00 pm.
Nevertheless, we went to bed shortly thereafter and planned to leave the hotel at 6:30 am for our long slog to Canero. The windows and picture window were wide open to the elements. It was 62° outside at night. Luscious!
Lo and behold, we were awakened at 5:45 am by the loud and boisterous group of 6 Spanish girls leaving the Albergue to start their camino. Really! We, too, were on the road shortly. Left the hotel by 6:15 am after a quick coffee and pack-up.
We decided to compress the next 4 days of recommended hiking into 3, making each day a bit more challenging than planned. Today’s first stage covered a lot of difficult terrain: 727 meters of elevation (2,385 feet) of upward gain, and similar downward track. Better yet were the “alternate” trails: on this Camino, there's no single “Way”, you get to pick! Worse than that, the trail on the Camino App often diverges from the marked trail. You can end up in territory you never expected. That’s what happened to us. That’s why this blog entry is entitled “Beach Day”. All good!
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| Sunrise |
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| Early Morning Views |
Our coffee break was at 9:30. Perfect timing. And who should we see at the café but the 6 Spanish girls! After a short break, we set out for what should have been the next 2 to 2 ½ hour mountainous trek—but was so much more!
We followed to trail markers closely. There were constant assurances that we were on the right path. But we kept discovering additional “gems”, and our destination was always farther away than planned.
The trail was generally rural, shady, bucolic—and steep!
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| Tina Climbing |
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| Paco in the countryside |
Not to mention wet. We passed at least 8 very large streams that required some level of ingenuity to cross. Paco, the former boy scout, had no problem with that. As for me, the prior weeks of training hiking in the mountains in California paid off in spades! I figured out my way around them without missing a beat!
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| Streams to Cross |
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| Paco Crossing Yet Another Stream |
In the end, we visited three beaches. That wasn’t the plan. Somehow, the path got augmented and we happened to stumble upon them. The first few were expected and beautiful.
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| Tina At Ballota Beach |
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| Tablizo Beach |
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| Enjoying the Beach! |
But sometimes, what’s unexpected makes you gasp. Here’s where the road took us: many kilometers out of the way, but the most breathtaking view and beach experience: Cadavedo Beach.
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| Cadavedo Beach from the Camino |
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| Enjoying a Break at Cadavedo Beach |
Consequently, what should have been a noon rest break in the town of Cadavedo, ended up being a 12:30 pm break at the beach. While that was great, it meant that we didn’t arrive at our destination until 3:00 pm, a solid hour (and many kilometers) later than planned.
On arriving at our Albergue/Hotel, we saw many familiar faces. The German girl from the 1st Albergue, another traveler we met along the way. It’s starting to feel like a traveling tribe. That’s the Camino life.
Today's walk was 28 kilometers (17.4 miles). Tomorrow is supposed to be the same, but with less challenging conditions. Paco will pick it up from here.
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