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Camino 2019, From IrúnCamino 2019, From Irún
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Camino 2019, From Irún

June - July 2019
June 2019 Read more
  • 35footprints
  • 2countries
  • 41days
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  • 7.4kkilometers
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  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino 2019, From Irún
    1
    Day 21

    In the rain to Cobrana

    June 23, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    33 kms all on dirt or stone paths with lots of ups and downs but nothing too steep— should have been a dream walk, and it was for the first hour or so. No spectacular scenery but very pleasantly rural. Then the rain started and I had to whip out the rain poncho. When you walk in the rain, at first it is unpleasant because everything starts getting wet. First your pants legs, then your socks. Then you start to sweat so the inside of the poncho gets wet. Then, the worst—your shoes are soaked and you are walking in a puddle. Squish squish squish. But then it doesn’t get any worse and it becomes your new normal, so you just keep walking.

    About ten kms from my destination, I passed the first open bar of the day. The owner was very tolerant of my drowned rat condition and very eager to talk about this new camino. One good strong cafe con leche and a few churros later, the rain stopped and out I went. But of course it soon started raining again —which really didn’t matter since I was still pretty wet.

    The little casa rural in Cobrana gives pilgrim prices. And the woman in the bar brought up a bowl of paella and some hard boiled eggs with tuna and red peppers — I doubt I’ll be able to finish it even though it will be my supper too!    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino 2019, From Irún
    Day 22

    Into Ponferrada

    June 24, 2019 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    This walk turned out to be a lot longer than I thought —another 30 km somehow. It must have been the tracks I followed, since I was taking a “cheating walk” rather than following the official Camino Olvidado to the end.

    The first cheating was when the arrows pointed me up to a sanctuary high above the reservoir. Since I was walking in pea soup and since the church is relatively modern, (why walk an extra km or two to see a modern church?!) I just shaved a km or two of ascent off the day. The rest of the day was foggy and humid but good walking weather. No particularly stunning scenery —over and around a dam/reservoir and through a couple of pine forests.

    At one point my GPS was taking me through some really overgrown mess and I saw a track going up and heard voices up there. So I thought that was the better option. Sure enough there was a group of cyclists with diabetes doing a Spain-Germany cycle. They pointed me in the right direction and within a few hours I was in Ponferrada.

    Soon after I arrived, it started to rain —lucky me to have missed it all on the walk. Doing a little legal work this afternoon, and I’ll then meet up with some others who are going to walk the Camino Invierno too.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino 2019, From Irún
    Day 23

    Back to Ponferrada

    June 25, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    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

  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino 2019, From Irún
    1
    Day 24

    To Las Medulas

    June 26, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Great day, not too hot (yet), and lots of really nice paths, through vineyards, fruit orchards, or forests.

    It’s a stiff ascent to the little town of Villavieja, and the other two times I have walked it, there were great views of the castle of Cornatel, perched on a cliff and looking impregnable. But today it was covered in fog.

    Villavieja is the little town where the serfs who worked in the castle lived. Today it’s a pretty little hamlet with an albergue and some casas rurales. From there to the (closed) castle is a short ascent.

    When I got to the town of Borrenes, I decided to take an alternative path up to Las Médulas. My camino pal Amancio had recommended it, and it was a good recommendation. A bit harder, more ascent, but it takes you straight to the iconic overlook and then down to town. Now I don’t have to spend my post-lunch hours walking up there!

    These weird rick formations, btw, are what’s left after the Romans built a complicated channel system and pumped water through to blow up the mountain and disgorge the gold.

    Hands down my favorite tree is the chestnut, and this area is chock full of them. Life keeps springing out of dead trunks, it seems like a metaphor.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino 2019, From Irún
    Day 25

    The heat is coming

    June 27, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    I had either 28 or 36 kms today with forecasts for low 90s (high 90s tomorrow😲). So I left right at sunrise, 6:30, and within a few hours, I had left León y Castilla and entered Galicia. A huge dog that barked wildly at me the last time I passed has mellowed a lot, surely a sign that there are lots more pilgrims passing.

    I met up with various groups of morning walkers—the path was nice soft dirt with views of the beautiful Sil River (except for the parts marred by one industrial installation or another).

    About 10 km in, I noticed a small tear in the fabric covering of one of my shoes. That sealed the deal-I would stop at km 28 (where there was a shoe repair) rather that 36 (where there wasn’t). This complicates my life, since that means that I am pretty much stuck with an extremely short day tomorrow, which would not be my first choice. Oh well.

    Arriving in O Barco, I went straight to the shoe repair store. 10 minutes later and 2€ poorer, I left with my shoes stitched and the zipper on my fanny pack repaired. I am staying in a “recently renovated” Pension, which has fresh paint on the walls but a bathroom that looks like it pre-dates the Reconquest.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino 2019, From Irún
    Day 26

    When 16 km seems short

    June 28, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    This is one of the shortest days I’ve ever walked on any camino (and I think this is camino number 19 for me!). It’s just hard to find anything but a 42 km alternative, and though I have done stages that long this year, the heat advisory gave me pause.

    So I left much later than usual, with a 7 AM breakfast in my hostal. Say what you will about the bathrooms, the breakfast was delicious. Fresh squeezed orange juice, lots of fruit, yogurt, and of course toast with butter and jam. And a very respectable café con leche. Way beyond the norm for a €20 room.

    Even with this late departure, I was still in A Rua before 10 AM. That gave me two hours till I could take off my pack and check into my hotel. So I decided to walk down to the Riverwalk at the edge of town I went to the ayuntamiento and got some information for our Invierno guide, which we update every year.

    I am in a cute little place above a good restaurant, so IWill be well fed for sure. It looks like the temperature May be decreasing some, so a 28 or 29 Kilometer day tomorrow should be fine.

    But first it’s time to enjoy the watermelon I carried up the hill to my hotel!    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino 2019, From Irún
    Day 27

    28 km along the Sil River

    June 29, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    This was a beautiful day. I left right at 6 to try to get a big chunk in before it got too hot (temperature highs are in mid to high 90s these days). I was really lucky because for the first four hours I had almost no direct sun because of the mountains. So much of today is high above or right along the Sil River. There were several little villages, some with rehabilitation of old houses going on. No bars but enough fountains, so the water bottles kept getting refilled.

    At about 8 km, after a pretty tough descent to the river level, I saw an old man walking toward me. I took a chance — es Ud. Casimiro? Turns out it was the now 92 year old Casimiro. He lives in a house by the river, where he operated the mill till the 1960s to grind all the grain from the area. No more grain grown here. He also told me how in his youth he walked to Northern Portugal to buy cattle at a better price. No more herds here either. His wife died several months ago, he told me, and his two sons are now insisting he move to Madrid. No way will that happen, he assured me. 😁 He invited me in for a coffee and I would have loved to continue the conversation, but with mid 90s coming my way I declined. One of those sad decisions that I felt I had to make. He told me to tell all my friends to come visit him.

    All in all a great day—lots of snippets of conversations with people working in the fields, out for a walk, or renovating an old family home.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino 2019, From Irún
    Day 28

    To Monforte de Lemos

    June 30, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    I think today’s walk was in the 32 km/20 mile range. I left early because of the heat forecast, but soon saw once again that weather forecasting is pretty imprecise. Instead of sunny, hot, and 90s, I had overcast and 70s most of the walk. Not complaining , mind you, but it does mean I didn’t have to leave my Hostal at 6 a.m.

    The walk wasn’t exactly spectacular, though mostly pleasant enough. Three ascents and their corresponding descents, mainly through pine forests, but some beautiful old growth as well. Only an occasional smattering of eucalyptus.

    A few kms outside of town, I ran into my first pilgrim!!! An Italian doctor, living in Canarias, who had just taken a fall in the notorious wet stony stretch. Everyone keeps saying this Camino is taking off, but I just haven’t seen anyone!!

    By 2, I was in my room washing clothes. I had a good menu del dia. A nice walk around the old town and up to the parador, and now getting ready for my typical 8 pm bedtime!

    Hard to believe I am not too far from Santiago.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino 2019, From Irún
    Day 29

    Very beautiful day

    July 1, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    By adding a gorgeous 6 km loop to the walk I was able to get the kms up to a respectable 24. It was such a pretty day. First through some small hamlets with lots of interludes on narrow cart tracks squeezed in between two ancient stone walls.

    And then this loop—two Romanesque churches, lots of vineyards, and views of an iconic oxbow loop in the Miño.

    But the part of the day that brought the biggest smile was when I checked into my casa rural and asked if by any chance they had found the credencial of a friend who was here several weeks ago. Answer was yes and we all jumped for joy. And my friend is also pretty happy, she had all but given up.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsCamino 2019, From Irún
    Day 30

    Short and gorgeous

    July 2, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    My choice was 14 km or 41 kms. I’ve done a bunch of 40+ stages this year but I am in the home stretch and am winding down. So I opted for short.

    I didn’t set the alarm this morning and was surprised that I slept till about 7:15! That’s not a camino timetable. But with such a short day it didn’t really matter. I lounged around in my room and made TWO cups of (bad instant) coffee and set out about an hour later.

    The day was really quite beautiful. First to an XI century church with some of my favorite Romanesque carvings—two sweet little cow heads over the side door.

    From there it’s a few km down on Roman road to the river. Believe me, the excitement over walking on a real Roman Road wears off quickly when it’s a steep descent and when the wear and tear of more than 2,000 years has turned the road into a rocky mess. But arriving at the Miño River is magical. So beautiful.

    From there up the other side of the river, short and steep through beautiful vineyards with several beautiful wineries with outdoor terraces. From the top it’s a pretty straight shot into the destination, a small city named Chantada, where the Hotel Mogay had a room with my name on it.    Read more

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