El Camino de Santiago - 2017

Day 22: Rabanal del Camino to El Acebo de San Miguel

Michelle wrote:
28 Sept. Thursday

Dawn at Rabanal del Camino

We were woken up at 7:50 am by the maid coming into the house to start cleaning!  The shades make the room really dark and we could have kept on sleeping if she hadn’t come in.  So, up we got and left the albergue just as the sun was coming up.  We could see the meseta on the horizon as the sun rose.  It was very pretty.  It was nice to be up in the hills again where we could enjoy a nice big view.  
We began the 5.3 km climb to Foncebadon, an interesting mountain village.  We are beginning to see the use of slate now in their buildings.  The mountains are beautiful and some of the the trees are just beginning to change colors.  There are also pine trees here.  We stopped in Foncebadon for breakfast and Curtis was thrilled because the bar we stopped at (2nd bar, of course!) had corn flakes and muesli out on a table for breakfast.  It was very informal and relaxed.  Just help yourself to what you want and we’ll figure out how much it costs.  

Cold cereal for breakfast - the first since Logroño

We made it to the 2nd highest point on the camino (1505 m) and the Cruz de Ferro.  Everyone was happy to be there and it was very meaningful for some, for various reasons.  The tradition is that you leave a rock there that is symbolic or meaningful to you.  It can be an emotional experience for some pilgrims and it was nice to see the respect everyone gave to those who needed a private moment at the cross.  The cross is at a park at the top of the mountain and buses and cars come by.  It almost seemed like a popular tourist stop, which it probably is.  

The approach to Cruz de Fierro, the high point of the Camino this year.

Michelle at Cruz de Fierro

We met some more Canadians that were part of a tour group that came by bus.  They could get off the bus and walk or ride the bus when they got tired of walking.  They seemed to be enjoying themselves and their version of doing the camino.

We continued on the rocky path and passed the ruins of a village near the top of the mountain.  It was right on the edge of the road.  

Then we passed just below the top of the mountain, the highest on the camino, 1515 m.  It was lovely to see mountain after mountain and sometimes a glimpse of a village tucked into the side of a hill. 

Welcome to the mountains of Galicia

Then we began the descent on a very rocky and tricky path.  We had to watch where we placed our feet because of  loose rocks, slipping on sheets of slate or shale.  Even the powdery dirt was slippery. 

A smooth section on the walk
down to El Acebo de San Miguel

 We were able to stop and enjoy a beautiful view of the huge valley where Ponferrada lies.  

Ponferrada is somewhere down there, and beyond you can see the mountains we will be crossing in June 2018.

We came upon a woman that had fallen a few moments before on the tricky trail. Fortunately, there were already 3 other women there helping her.  We stopped to see if we could help and we were able to make use of the First Aid kit that we had with us.  One woman was a nurse and cleaned her scrapes with water and sprayed our Neosporin on them, but we couldn’t do a thorough job of cleaning.  She was in a lot of pain and we were afraid she may have injured a rib.  She was able to stand up and walk to the highway, which was just down the path a bit.  Curtis carried her backpack for her.  We all stopped where the camino crossed the highway and she was able to call her albergue and ask them to send a taxi to pick her up.  While she was talking to them a taxi showed up out of the blue!  Curtis explained the situation to the driver and he was able to take her and her sister to their albergue and maybe to a doctor.  We never saw her again.  She was very fortunate to have fallen so close to the road.  It would have been very difficult for her to walk the remaining 2 km to the nearest village.  That part of the camino was very rocky and slippery and was easy to fall on if you lost concentration and put your foot down wrong.
We made it into Acebo, a village on the side of the mountain, and stopped at the first albergue that had an available private room.  We were really tired from the strenuous trail and enjoyed taking showers and resting.  Even though we didn’t cover a really long distance (16 km), it was hot, about 74 degrees and there weren’t very many trees for shade.  Hot days drain your energy faster than cool ones.  Our albergue didn’t have laundry facilities so we had to go to the other end of town to their partner albergue, La Casa de Peregrinos.  This is a big new albergue with a beautiful view of the valley below.  It is quite the social place, too.  It  is nice to hear happy pilgrims reuniting and talking.  There is even a swimming pool!
We ate dinner with our 2 Canadian friends, Jim and Brenda, at our albergue.  They happened to be staying there, too!  They are very nice people and interesting and fun to talk with.  They live near Lesser Slave Lake in Alberta and used to live in Peace River when they were newlyweds.  Both of those towns are important places in one of my favorite books, Mrs. Mike. 

This was our last night on the camino for this year.  We were a little sad, a little relieved, and little happy.  We planned to meet Fuco somewhere on the trail to Ponferrada.  That was very comforting to know that we would soon have a ride to A Coruna!

Day 22, El Camino 2017

Good walking surface coming out of Rabanal del Camino

Tomorrow the walking ends for 2017. We reach Ponferrada, and Fuco Rei comes down from A Coruña to walk the last kilometers with us and then take us to his home.
The images today highlight the transition in terrain as we move into the mountains. There are a few trees changing color, but the orange in some of these pictures is from the ferns.

Looking back towards Astorga and the meseta beyond

Taking a break in the tall grass next to the spring. The trail
climbs through the trees in the background of this photo.

Look closely and you can see where the previous photo was taken from.

Today we hiked from Rabanal del Camino to the village of El Acebo de San Miguel. We passed the Cruz de Fierro at the highest point on the trail. From there it was down a very rough and rocky trail to Acebo. We could see Ponferrada in the distance before we could see any evidence of our destination (Acebo).

Approaching Foncebadon, the last village on this side of the mountains between Astorga and Ponferrada.

Looking back at Foncebadon.  Rabanal del Camino is further down the
mountain and Astorga in the far valley.  Neither are visible in this picture.

She's coming down;
We were going up.
She's wearing a bell because...
her horns don't work.

Coming down this rocky section an older woman from Australia fell and hurt herself. When we arrived, she had just fallen, landing on her side, scrapping her elbow and knee and possibly broken a rib. Along with her sister, three other women were there, two of which were nurses from Canada and none of which brought out any kind of first aid kit. What? So the nurses cleaned the wounds with our water and applied antiseptic from my 1st Aid kit. No bandages were needed. The big concern was the possible broken rib. We were fortunate to be within 200 ft of where the Camino crosses the road. She gingerly walked to that point. While trying to call a taxi, one drove up. We flagged it down and off she and her sister went to town.











El Acebo de San Miguel is a quaint little village on the side of the mountain.

Approaching San Miguel de Acebo

Today was the first time we walked into town with no pre-determined place to stay. Fortunatly the first place we asked had a nice private room for two.

Main thoroughfare of San Miguel de Acebo

Albergue La Casa del Peregrino.
Home Sweet Home for our last night on the Camino de Santiago 2017

While waiting for our clothes to dry, Roman and his handicapped daughter, Aurora (13), from Australia arrived. He said it was extremely difficult getting her cart down the rocky trail. I can imagine. My hat is off to him for doing this. It was heart warming to see Auroras reaction to the 'sister' pilgrims who fawned over her.

Aurora with her fan club

As we've been hiking, I've had to force my self not to resent being passed by faster hikers. I am not 'worse' than them just like I'm not 'better' than the folks we pass. In fact often we will pass a plodding hiker only to be passed by them while we take a break.
Similarly in life... some folks who I think have everything they need... are not able to do this hike, even though they want to. I struggle to find the balance between being satisfied with my lot in life, and the need for self improvement.