Back to Ponferrada

I had a really tough but almost always enjoyable walk today up to Peñalba De Santiago, one of the most beautiful villages in Spain. It’s tucked way up in the mountains and has been inhabited since the tenth century when the hermit saint Genadio set up some caves for hermits. The walk was very remote and I even walked in some of the channels made by the Romans to get water over to the hills with gold nearby. I got there just in time for a very interesting visit to the 10th century church. After walking around, I pondered my situation.

My plans were to stay in Peñalba tonight and then take a more remote path tomorrow to connect to the Camino Invierno.

But three things made me change my mind. First I had had no cell service almost the whole way and tomorrow would be no better. Second, I had inexplicably forgotten to download tracks for tomorrow on my GPS. And third, even though I was able to get offline tracks onto my phone, the battery would have died about half way through.

Now I love a challenge as much as the next guy, but this seemed stupid. So a very nice couple from Madrid drove me back to Ponferrada. And I will start the Invierno tomorrow from the proper place.Read more