Stage 24 - along the way

Today was breathtaking in more ways than one!

Some steep climbs up and down which made us feel like we were on a walking roller coaster but it was spectacular scenery as we went up into the mountains. There was a dusting of snow along the route and it actually snowed lazily on us for a few hours. The further-off mountains had had a dumping of the white stuff and were looking majestic. And the undulating hills we were walking through were covered in purple, yellow and white flowers (which I managed to quite impressively match with my purple woolly hat and my yellow coat!)

Today we went to the famous Cruz de Ferro which is an iron cross on top of a hill of stones that have been laid there by pilgrims over the years. The idea is that you bring a stone from home (I brought one from Worthing beach that I’d picked during one of my training walks with Sue) and leave it at the cross to signify something that you are laying down or leaving behind you.

One of our Camino friends asked me to be with her as she sprinkled the ashes of her son and husband there, and I read a committal poem by Ruth Burgess as we did so. That got us all going.

The walk continued to be the gift that kept giving with amazing views all day as well as testing slopes and tricky going underfoot.

We stopped at a hut/caravan for a snack and a sit by the roaring fire, had a drink in a friendly albergue in Foncebadon, and met a guy who describes himself as a knight and who is quite a famous character on the Camino. He lives in Manjarin, which has a population of 1 and it’s him! Czytaj więcej