Camino Dos Faros - Stage 21

Today was a type 2 kinda day…

When you think of internationally known trails you typically assume they’re going to be in mostly good shape. That wasn’t our experience today. The trail out of Praia de Niñóns started off great but quickly turned into a nonstop mess of chest high bracken, at times so dense it was hard to see your feet.

We spent most of the morning and part of the afternoon making slow progress along what, at times, looked more like a game trail or a scrambler’s path. It was tiring and frankly sucked the joy out of otherwise beautiful scenery.

Shortly after O Roncudo we ate lunch, a wonderful Tortilla de patata sandwich from our hosts at Casa vacacional Niñones (highly recommended). It was a happy break that allowed us to cool off, warm our feet in the sun, and just relax a bit. Though at this point we were still short of the halfway mark on the day.

Mid afternoon we finally got to Faro do Roncudo and enjoyed some road walking, a welcome break from the struggle with bracken. That road led into Corme where we found an open cafe and stopped for refreshment before embarking on the last 10km of the day.

The trail out of Corme was similarly merciless, punishing us with tall bracken and relentless ups and downs. Finally we reached the Praia de Balarés, which rewarded us with sand dunes before the final and thankfully paved Sendero de Allones, an embankment separating a lagoon from tidal flats. We finally landed at our apartment for the night around 7pm, 17.6 miles and 10.5 hours after starting.

Net, a really long day on top of two other really long days. We’re both a little wiped out. Tomorrow is another big day and then we have a rest day in Laxe that we’re both looking forward to.Read more