Thursday, July 16: Grandas de Salime to A Fonsagrada (17.4 mi)

CC: The guide advertised today’s elevation at level 3. Not bad. Should be very enjoyable with a few tough hills. And that’s exactly what we found. We had toast and café con leche at 6:30am and started 20 minutes later. Yudi forgot her fanny pack as we left the restaurant (she later hinted that I rushed her. On most occasions that is entirely possible, but not this time. I wanted to be off by 7am. We were ahead of time). The town quickly disappeared, and we were into the country on nice, flat land.

We transitioned to a hill that paralleled the highway. As we came off the hill, about thirty minutes after leaving the restaurant, a woman approached us saying, “Kennedy?” Then she handed us Yudi’s fanny pack. Another camino angel keeping us out of trouble. They must have found the pack after we left and drove to where they calculated we would be. These people are truly amazing. Here’s a photo of our angel Maneula.

We thanked her profusely and continued on.

We passed several homes with chickens and cows. The chicken coup was guarded by a fierce dog.

The terrain started to gradually increase. Off in the distance there were windmills.
They started getting closer while not so coincidentally the trail got steeper.

And closer…

And closer…

A final burst and we were among them with another grand view.

Then we started down, descending nearly a mile into our final region – Galicia.

This was a major milestone. We started in Basque. Around Castro Urdiales, we entered Cantabria. Near Columbreys we entered Asturius, and now, finally, we’re in the Santiago de Compostela region. Exciting! Right after we entered Galicia, the waymark direction on shells changed. The indicated direction in Asturius was based on where the lines in the shell converge. In Galicia, the opposite is true. Now we follow the diverging lines.

Fonsagrada sits on top of mountains and can be seen from a long way off. I was walking quite a ways back from the girls and saw it when we were 12 miles out. I had to check the map and compass to convince myself due to how far away it looked. When we got to 8 miles, I caught up and took this photo.

They asked me if I knew what town that was in the distance. I told them Fonsagrada. They didn’t believe me. But the pace sure picked up after that. A few more miles and it became obvious. The final two miles were up a steep hill once again. Seems like each day as we approach our destination, we finish with a steep hill. We joke that it’s the camino reminding us who is in charge. No one thinks it is funny. We found the hotel easily, checked in, and cleaned up. An hour later we were feasting on steak, pork chops, and trout. Ana got the trout. Poor little guys were not alive more than a few months. Their bones were so small, she ate them with the meat. She has a photo that I’ll ask her to post. Give it a few minutes and check back. Bye…

Ana: My dinner, or what’s left of it.