Again off the pavement

It’s flattening out now, so I think I’m near the top. I have forgotten to comment on the cuckoo birds in the forests. I’ve been hearing them all along. But this seemed particularly appropriate looking off into the valley below with the clouds. The stands of Broome can be quite luminous. There’s a nice marker at the border going into Galicia and the trail condition is markedly improved to graded decomposed gravel. Passed two Peregrinas from North Carolina. One was the wife of a Scoutmaster and mom of an Eagle Scout. She knew about Philmont. We picked up a massive wall in the cloudy trails and followed it into dark forest for a bit before breaking out into the open and seeing the Peregrina statue telling us we’ve reached O Cebreiro. About 2000 ft in 6 km. Then the sky opened up and poured for an hour. Took shelter at the municipal fountain which was thankfully roofed and met Oso a huge specimen of the local dogs that seem related to German Sheppards. It started to get crowded and I tried to get into my lodging early, but it was closed until 12:30. Heading back to the fountain, someone popped out of a hole and it turned out to be a little tavern that the crowd had not found. Time for a coffee and croissant au chocolate.Read more