La Laguna

We did it! We did 108/110 flights according to our watches. Wow!! It’s funny, Holly and I do the same trail but we are always off by a few. Sometimes I have more flights (or Holly does) but one of us will have more miles/steps. One thing we’ve learned is Apple Watches are not exact science for sure!! Sometimes I beat her by a few miles and accuse her of taking shortcuts 😂. We started out in about 35* F and I had on a short sleeve, long sleeve, running jacket, and my rain coat. I had leggings and rain pants on, 2 pairs of socks and gloves and still wasn’t warm enough! But after a few miles of going as fast as we could, we started to warm up. Eventually I shedded all the layers that I could. What a beautiful day. Mountains, rivers, waterfalls, lush green hills, all things pretty! I took so many photos and I’m only allowed to upload 20!! For once I have more photos than options! We had a ‘traffic jam’ of sheep on our walk and once we arrived to La Laguna a herd of cows came right into the village and around the tables we were all relaxing at. I remember huffing and puffing on this section 10 years ago and feeling like it would never end. This year I had a great stride and felt I floated up this mountain with a smile on my face. Hard, yes, but it pales in comparison to what I did last year on the Del Norte route. Plus, how could I complain with the views I was blessed with? It’s funny, we stopped 2.5Km short of our destination in La Faba to take a rest, and drink water when we look up to a deck above and our Aussie friends Brad and Susie were up there saying hello! We run into them periodically and they always see us first and go out of their way to come talk. We met them in our first week. They are wonderful and always telling us where they scored the best nuts, meats, and cheeses for their walk the next day. Love them. We continued on from there and it was a push. However, like I said, not like I remember it being. Yes, my head was saturated with sweat, but my breathing was steady and I couldn’t stop appreciating and being grateful for the opportunity to hike in this amazing landscape. Tomorrow morning we finish the accent in O’Cebreiro, have a coffee at the top of the mountain and catch the sunrise. It is here that I’ll leave my stones (burdens). It’s more fitting than it felt in Ponferrada the other day anyways. We will have quite a decent of course after we summit, but the views are like you’re on top of the world. So..we have been bumping into this lady the last couple weeks and she always looks pissed off. She has giant, long curly hair, huge boobs (sorry but it’s a noticeable feature, especially how she carries them 😬) and bright red lipstick on every time I see her. I’ll admit I have avoided her and felt like there was something about her that was very off putting. Today in this little place that only has an albergue, she is staying here. She came over to our table because the sun was directly on her where she was sitting and after talking a bit, I realized she was actually so sweet and funny. She shared some of her experiences of her journey and I immediately felt bad for my prejudice. She’s another Aussie, and we had a really nice conversation. Just goes to show, and a reminder to me not to judge a book by its cover. We all have a story and we all deserve compassion and need love. I’m glad she came to our table and I was taught this lesson. It was a hard day for all of us, no matter what fitness level, and at the end of the day, we are all human beings just needing a hug whether we are climbing a mountain or tending to the kids, job, and/or home. I got out of my comfort zone today on so many levels..god bless you all, I love you. ❤️Read more