Day 28: Las Herrerías to Fonfría (Wendy)

 

So, here’s something we’ve noticed: When an albergue/hostel gives you a time that their bar opens in the morning for breakfast, you should take that time as a rough estimate of when they may be open, give or take a half hour or so. We had one place that told us they didn’t open until 7:30, but we were pleasantly surprised to find they were up and running when we made our way down a little past 7:00. The bar that that we were “racing” to get to yesterday so I could have some gluten-free snacks was advertised as closing at 2:00. They were still packed at 2:30 when we left after lunch.

On the other hand, the last two nights we’ve had the hostel owner claim they would open at 7:00 for breakfast only to find the place shuttered and dark when we went down. Today, someone pointed us to the hostel next door, which opened at 6:00. She knows her customer! We were able to have a lovely coffee, pastry, and tortilla before the nasty climb facing us first thing this morning. As we headed out of town around 7:30, the bar at our hostel was just opening up. Our hostel tonight has made the same 7:00 breakfast claim. We shall see.

I was very happy to have some caffeine and food in me as we headed out of town and up to O Cebreiro. The alert on one of our Camino apps described the first section of this climb as “nearly impracticable.” I’m not quite sure what that means, but it was steep and rocky. Bob commented that it felt nice to finally be doing something a bit more athletic again and not just walking. That being said, it was no more difficult than many hikes we’ve done, only those are not usually (or ever) done in the dark with a 25 lb pack. Overall, I think we did just over 2100 ft elevation gain today.

The wooded path we headed up soon after we left town was reminiscent of something from fairy tales or fiction (Little Red Riding Hood or Goldilocks came to mind for me; for Bob it was Anne of Green Gables). 

There were even giant gnome mushrooms as big as Bob’s foot.

Adding to the surreal feeling of being somewhere magical, we passed a man we’ve nicknamed the Hermit on our way up. We first encountered him yesterday, shuffling along with his walking stick angled out to the side as if he were rowing himself along the path. Bent over under his heavy pack, his bushy white beard resting on his chest, he barely mumbled a “buenos días” in return as we sped past. I always feel compelled to stop and ask if he needs some help or ibuprofen when we see him. And yet somehow, he was ahead of us on the path this morning, slow-walking in the dark up the mountain. 

Part of me thinks he’s a pilgrim test like in that really sappy Christmas story where we learn that Jesus came to visit a man waiting for him three times during the night, disguised as various people in need. If I don’t offer this man a snack asap, I’ll never get forgiveness when we reach Santiago! (I believe one also needs to attend mass or get a pilgrim’s blessing or otherwise participate in some religious ritual for said forgiveness to occur. But magical thinking around Camino hermits tends to gloss over such details.)

Bob, on the other hand, has put the Hermit at the top of his “people I have bested on the Camino” list.

Once we came out of the woods, we were treated to amazing mountaintop vistas all day long. The weather was gorgeous, the valleys filled with fog, the cows cheering us on. 

Oh, and we passed out of Castilla e León today and into Galicia, the final region in our journey. We are now officially one week and less than 150 km. from Santiago!

One last photo: Here’s where we had our communal dinner tonight of local specialties, including tarte de Santiago, a naturally gluten-free cake made from almonds.