Walking Day 8 to O'Cebreiro

Milestones today, we have walked over 100 miles, (the halfway point),completed León and entered the Provincia de Galicia. I walked 13.9 miles with an elevation gain of 2630 '. We are now in O'Cebreuro at 4250'. I walked mostly alone today, but i had some encounters with our dinner companions from last night. I stopped by a spring in a small village to put on sunscreen, and left without my poles. I realized this about a half mile later, so i went back with shame to retrieve them, but i am glad i did. The next section we climbed 2200' in 4 miles. We climbed muddy switchbacks in the forest. I leap frogged with a cyclist determined not to walk the bike even 1 step. I honestly don't know how he did it, but we cheered when he finally made it to the top. I thought it was the top but we still had 3 miles of incline to go. We had lunch there and prepared for the next mountain. On the next stage I had to deal with the rain as well. I walked a bit with an Australian woman who was just as determined as the cyclist. Finally we arrived in O'Cebreuro, a beautiful medieval village on top of a mountain. The Peregrinos you meet on the Camino are amazing. The all accepted a great challenge and have a powerful will to get to Santiago, and they come from all points on the globe to do it. There are no awards or benefits for this accomplishment, except for the riches of living, loving and laughterRead more