Camino Pilgrim

Pushing hard and far on a flat day with sun behind clouds almost all day. In the early morning, we had thunderstorms all across del Bierzo valley. I woke up early at one end of the valley and walked all day to reach the other end. I did not have that much time to slow down or rest because the wind was slowly blowing thunderclouds from right behind me.

Managed to reach Trabadelo around 30 minutes before the stormclouds caught me. I had a much longer day today than normal because the temperature was supposed to get to only +32. It is a big difference compared to the +34 average I have gotten ever since the 3rd day of the Camino. With the sun behind the clouds, I was far less sweaty on the trail.

I remember from all my previous Caminos that whenever I pushed to 40+ kilometers, then the next day my feet would be hurtful and legs stiff. Just a few hours after finishing, I can confirm that this time there are absolutely no issues and I can continue walking tomorrow like normal. It is incredible what a pair of healthy legs can pull off. Did I even mention that, other than two vineyards, the whole day was spent on hard surface?

Actually, it is not just the legs that got better preparation than previous Caminos, but also the shoes. The first one was in cheap everyday sneakers and the second one in super sturdy hiking shoes (while the trail was on car roads and city streets mostly). The problem was that they wore out quite fast over this long distance and gave little protection afterwards. With my current hiking sneakers, I do not feel anything when walking on gravel anymore. It is actually more comfortable than the concrete that Spanish people use for sidewalks (a pale gray color keeps it cool to walk on in summer).

I parked myself at the end of del Bierzo vineyard valley. This place is also pretty much the end of the Castilla-Leon region. My beloved Galicia region is just 17 kilometers and one crazy mountain hike away. I have seen forests for the last 2 days already.

Can’t wait to walk in the deep old forests of Galicia once more.