Jack and Dianne

Our day started with Christine, Alex and Helen sitting down together with us for breakfast. We met the day before in Sarria and this will be the last time together because of our different paces. It was to talk about our different experiences on the trail. We took a quick selfie then got driven to the trail to start our day. Today was mostly trail thru many small villages. Almost every village had a church and many were open for the Pilgrims. In Vendas de Naron we got our stamp done by a blind man inside a tiny church - very cool. We saw many more stone crosses which seem to be more prevalent than previously. We did take a fun detour to a Roman ruin dating back to the 4th century BC. Hard to believe that the stone walls were laid over 2,500 years ago and they are still in wonderful condition. There was some rain but overall it was a very nice day. Our Inn was outside of Palas de Rei and very nice. We had a wonderful view over the countryside out our window. The foo...

Sarria is a major starting point for the Pilgrims focused on getting their Compostela Certificate. The number of hikers seems to have doubled or tripled compared to our walk into Sarria. The trails were much better marked and better maintained compare to the weeks we spent getting this far. The walk was pretty smooth with a good hike up about 800 feet and then a descent all the way to Portomarin. We had a great dinner with people we met last night at our hotel. One from LA and and a mother and daughter from Canada. We had another wonderful dinner topped off with a local liquor they make from their own grapes. Everyone talked about the trips they have already taken and the ones we plan on taking. There are so many wonderful sights yet to see. Right now it is raining hard outside and it looks like the next few days could be pretty wet - but you never know. The weather in Spain is always a little interesting. Tomorrow we walk about 12 miles with a pretty good uphill. ...

Today we traveled to Sarria which is the town you need to start at to get your Compostela in Santiago. You need to walk 100 Km and Sarria is just beyond that point. We started our walk in a small mountain town with a single street and many Pilgrims. Our walk went smoothly and had a short climb but then descended 1,500 feet to Sarria. Along the way we saw more cows being moved - they went right by us after we had finished our lunch. The trail was generally in good shape and moving forward we expect the trails to improve due to the higher traffic. Many of the trails were thru the woods with plenty of shade. The fog hung around till about 11 so kept things cooler. We are staying in a wonderful B&B up in the mountains built from a ancient building. The ceilings are original and so are the walls - we look out over the hillsides of hay. Very special. Tomorrow begins the final 6 days of walking into Santiago. We are very excited.

We started in the hilltop village of O Cebreiro. The morning views were spectacular looking out over the valley and in the distance the valley was filled with clouds - much like San Francisco - very pretty. After breakfast we said goodbye to the cozy mountain village. To start we actually hiked further uphill before descending down into the valley. We went they several working villages where the cattle barns were next to the trail. In the first case we were surprised when the cows emerged from the barn and headed our way to their next pasture. Dianne grabbed her pack and headed down the road while Jack started a video as the cows went by him. A couple of cows came up to Jack just to check him out but then continued down the road toward Dianne. In the end they headed down a lane to their pasture - very cool. Some of the villages were very small but they all had a church of different sizes. Some where only 18 x 24 feet inside. One was built in 1717 for a rich family that o...

The best decision we made today was to taxi forward about 6 miles to Trabadelo to shorten our walk down to about 13 miles. The first 8 miles were a nice walk thru many small villages. Then came the steep climb up to O’ Cebreiro and we were at the top of the world. Looking back and forward the valleys stretch out below us for a hundred miles. The climb was about 2,000 feet up over 6 miles and the trail was in pretty good shape. We were glad it wasn’t raining though since some of it was dirt that would quickly turn to mud. Horses go up and down with passengers who want to avoid walking. We saw a rider coming down with two trail horses with empty saddles - obviously they had just delivered their riders to the top. We are in an ancient village with all the buildings made from rock because the weather is so tough at this altitude. The Camino shuts down in November and this village would be a good reason - no way would you want to hike that trail in snow. We are feeling good toda...

We had a late start after our long day yesterday. We headed out thru Ponferrada past the Templar Fort followed by several churches - then continuing out the suburbs into the countryside. We went through many small villages including one where we stopped for Coca Cola next to a small church in the middle of the road. This area is a Micro climate named Bierzo which is known for the different crops including a large number of grape fields. The grapes are grown somewhat differently than Napa with individual plants growing without trellises and newer plants just dropped into the old growth. Some of the new fields are done with trellises but that is the exception. As we looked back over the valley behind us the views were spectacular. We could see Ponferrada in the distance with the foothills rising up to where we stood. Ahead of us we’re more mountains which we will climb tomorrow. Quite a bit of the road was on pavement so our feet had a tough day. Luckily the finish was in...