Day 12 - Pontevedra to Armenteira

We woke up this morning and Miquel was gone. Like he evaporated into thin air. It was weird to begin our day without him. The morning started very busy with pilgrims again all jockeying for position on the road out of Pontevedra. We were happy when we got to veer off on the Spiritual Variant route. It was a beautiful walk with very few pilgrims. Maybe that is because there was a huge climb on this route today. In fact Tom had me so nervous about it that we decided it was best to pay a transfer service to move our heavy packs for the day. He told me it was going to be the equivalent of climbing Mt. Lassen in the middle of the day. Climbing Mt. Lassen is one of my least favorite things to do. So we readied ourselves with just the essentials; hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, windbreaker, water, phone, poles, our walking credentials and headed out. We made it to an early lunch stop to fuel up for what promised to be a tough afternoon climb. But once we were out of the steep village streets and onto a wide, mostly dirt, mostly shaded road, it was awesome. About 72 degrees today with a cool light breeze. Yes it was a hill, but it was either such an easy grade or we are in amazing shape. Either way, it was a lovely climb (rough downhill) and it dumped us off right into a bar for drinks and a stroll around the Monastery grounds.

14.5 miles today, on a not so terrifying climb. Let’s see what tomorrow brings. Only 3 days left of this adventure. 🇪🇸Read more