Mountain Mists and Knights Templar

After some quiet days, today was full of adventure - a misty mountain, burdens released, a loco taxi driver and the mythical Templar knights.

As is customary, the Camino continues to provide the answers I need. A few days back I was wondering if I could make it to Cruz de Ferro, the Iron Cross. At 1504m, it's the highest point on the Camino, and the legendary spot where is pilgrim leaves their pilgrim stone and their past burdens behind. There was no problem getting to the Cross, the issue was the descent
afterwards, which is known as the hardest on the walk, a brutal 8km on loose slippery rock. This part of the walk would have destroyed my ankles and ended my Camino. But a few days back I'd met a lady who was determined not to miss the cross because she was carrying blessed rocks and ashes from home. She told me about the Camino Angel Luis the taxi driver who is the go to man for taxiing the descent.

With Luis booked to fetch me off the mountain at midday, I set off up the mountain about nine. I should have left later but it wasn't raining and the sun was rising and briefly shining so it seemed the best time to go. The rising sun over the valley was an absolute delight.

I have carried from home a very small white river pebble from the Douglas River at Bicheno to leave here on the mountain in honour of the Spainish people who have been my generous hosts on this journey. So I said my thanks to Spain and left my rock on the very large pile on the mountain. I don't feel I have too many burdens to leave on the mountain, but I do hope the seven or eight kilos I've lost on this journey so far will stay in Spain and never return. Probably not if I have a Brownie Gelato for dessert.

Luis, the wise mountain taxi driver, had encouraged me to walk a few more kilometres through the mountains and agreed to pick me up from the home of Tomas, the self styled last Knight Templar, and sole inhabitant of the village (more suitably the hovel) of Manjarin. By the time I reached Tomas, who clearly wasn't in on the secrets of any hidden Templar riches, the mist had set in and the rains had come. Tomas, being the most sociable mountain hermit I've ever met, opened the door to his wood shed and gathered in passing dripping pilgrims for a chat. While not a single English speaker passed while I was there, I managed to communicate that Taxi Luis was coming and picked up a few more customers that made my taxi fare a bargain. I watched pilgrims come and go (I was their for a while as I had set out too early and had no phone reception to hurry Luis up) as Tomas encouraged them to stay on the road and off the slippery rocks.

The added bargain of some Spanish speaking passengers for my taxi ride was that Luis chatted endlessly to them and not me. Yesterday when he also gave me a lift, we couldn't drive more than five kilometres an hour because he was too busy chatting to google translate and playing it to me the entire drive. Out of that I did pick up that a Google review would be greatly appreciated and having done that I was his favourite passenger today. Some of today's photos were taken by Luis who insisted on stopping the taxi for every photo opportunity. We also managed to pick up my friend Anna from Arizona on the way down the mountain as well.

Arriving at our destination of Ponferrada, Anna and I had lunch beside the Knights Templar Castle before parting ways again.

The valley in which Ponferrada sits is beautiful, surrounded by rugged mountains in all directions. I'm glad the rain eased up enough this afternoon to see them all. I find the geography fascinating. As I approached these mountains from the other side slowly over a few days, they didn't look very big. In the Meseta I was already at an altitude of 900m and it rose quite gradually to the summit at 1500m. But in Ponferrada my altitude is under 600m and the descent was rapid so the mountains look much taller and more rugged from this side.Read more