Phil Merrell

Got coffee before leaving Cacabelos this morning. Usually we leave before anyone is open. Also took some pictures of the card playing baby Jesus church on the way out of town.
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Had breakfast after 4 miles in Villafranca del Bierzo. From there, a narrow canyon leads up to the foot of O Cebreio pass. The main Camino route follows alongside a freeway and a major highway up through the canyon, which is not a main selling point. We heard of a more pleasant alternate route that went up the side of the canyon above all of the highway noise. The vertical element of this route was undersold considerably. We ended up gaining more than 1,400 ft vertically and then dropping back down 1,000 ft to meet the main Camino route. Aside from the vertical issues it was very pleasant with spectacular views of the Bierzo valley behind us. We are telling ourselves it was a good warmup for the O Cebreio pass which is coming up tomorrow.もっと詳しく