Close cattle encounter

It’s funny how different parts of one day can be so very different. First a long lovely stroll through more dehesa. By now, we must be near the end of that area—how I will miss the wet meadows, boulders, oaks, all sprinkled with the white Jara flower.

I left the albergue before 7 but it was close to daybreak. I coincided with one of the Japanese peregrinos and we walked together till it was clearly light. Then came many kms alone, in fact I saw no one else for the rest of the 32 kms.

This is a part of the Via de la Plata where there have been re-routings, law suits, just general treachery. Finally the regional government stepped in, backed by a big EU grant and found a four km or so path around the problem area. Very good so far, but when the huge bunch of cattle started coming uphill toward me, I wasn’t so sure I liked the new route.

Now I KNOW these guys won’t hurt me, and I KNOW that I should just keep walking and minding my own business as they walk past me, but when I see these two big eyes staring at me with two big horns on top, I get a bit nervous. My solution was to backtrack to a really wide part of the path and to stay pinned over on one side. Slowly most of them walked by me. Then, after about 25 minutes, with all but about three past me, up came the cowherd on a moped. He shouted what I knew he would shout —“no hacen nada.” (They won’t do anything). That’s what all the owners of huge barking dogs also say to me when I stand there terrorized. But I am getting a little braver, always repeating the wisdom of a wise peregrina—what owner is going to leave vicious animals running around on their own?

Anyway, the rest of the walk was a piece of cake. First through the little walled town of Galisteo, and then 11long boring kms on the side of a very untraveled road to my day’s destination of Carcaboso. It’s not exactly a beautiful or happening place but I’m in a very clean hostal and will get a good sleep before my last 40 km stage this year!Weiterlesen