Soto de Luina to Cadavedo, Spain

Absolutely pleasant, but challenging day with a mix of dirt tracks, creeks, babbling brooks, and of course road. We stayed mainly in the forest which made me so grateful. We hopped rocks and balanced ourselves across several creeks, did some mud, and had some incredible views of the Bay of Biscay, once again. After being inland for not sure however many days now, it was a welcomed sight. The cliffs and crashing waves were definitely the reward for several ups and downs all day. I’m so much stronger than I was. The first week these climbs were kicking my butt. I was sore and stiff in the mornings and at the end of the day, now, they are nothing. The weather has cooled off, thankfully, so that plays a big part in my endurance too. Today it seemed like every time I put the work in, I was afforded an incredible view or a charming village. Yes, there is an analogy in that, I recognize.
We had 2 choices today. We could have done a big mountain, but there were no towns (so no coffees!!) or we could opt for the coastal route with several little villages dotted along the route. Both routes challenging and there was only 100 meter difference in climbing between the two. We took the coastal route and I think most pilgrims did. While we only hiked about 12 miles today, the challenge was in the climbing. The book made it look so easy. Yeah, no. As I said, grateful for the challenge, because it paid big dividends. Towards the last part we started bottlenecking with several pilgrims. It was a little jolting to my peaceful, quiet walk in nature. All of a sudden we were behind some guy who was having a great time talking and laughing loudly with his several friends. Everyone else was talking normally, but he had to yell and laugh louder than everyone else. I was tolerating it fine, to each their own, but I pulled back to create more distance. He was A LOT. Then they stopped to take photos and I saw the opportunity to pass. We snapped a couple photos too, and scurried past on our way, leaving the party bus behind, and getting back to peace.
We arrived at our stop for the night and just got done talking to a semi-elderly lady named Ingrid from the Netherlands. We asked why she was walking the Camino and she told us about breaking her back and her many treks that built up her strength over the years. Absolutely amazing woman, she shared interesting stories of volunteering along the Camino routes, the ones she has walked, and advised us on a couple great points of interest to check out in a town coming up and once we reach Santiago de Compostela, our end point. What a gem she was to meet, and here she is walking one of the most difficult routes in Spain. Talk about inspiring. Time to relax, soak in this quiet little beachfront area we are in and possibly walk down to the beach to see a little bit more of this paradise we are so blessed to be in for the evening. Thanks be to God.Read more