Murias

Nice place but I decided to hike on, grade increased from here and the heat and the dust. Terrain and flora very similar to Los Padres NF. First thing noticed, there are a lot more people. I’m going to submit to IUPAC an application for a new unit. I will call the Peregrimeter. Abbreviation ‘Pgm´. It’s defined as the number of people you see 1 kilometer in front of you. As in, coming in to Astorga it was 5 Pgm and coming out of Astorga it was 15 Pgm. Where I could see people and never get passed or pass, there was passing of one sort or another like 40-50 times. One advantage, new friends are easier to make! I am honing my greeting! The classic greeting is Buen Camino! Mine right now is Buen Camino! How ya doing? This enables the greeting, but also signals that I’m an English speaker. Non English speakers look at you in surprise and say “Good and You?” And that enables my classic, “Best Day of My Life!” A few seconds for the translation and a get big grins. English Speakers will then counter with, “Where ya from?” And off we go!…….

My new trail buddy is Arthur from Santa Barbara. He’s a nurse from Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara. Good match for stride and pace. We had second breakfast at the Bar Cowboy in Meson in El Ganso and Lunch at Abergue La Senda in Rabanal, where we met Michelle from Ohio and Paul/Pablo Murphy from San Diego…a retired Navy Carrier helo pilot. My place is El Refugio, updated just 2 years ago and really nice..room a little tight, it had a tub for wash and courtyard drying lines. Tonight looking forward to Gregorian chants from the monestery monks,Read more