It was tough today with some steep climbs, navigating a collapsed bridge and a lot of road walking – I reckon 50% of today was on tarmac.
I was on the route at 7am. I wanted to be in the woodlands around this time in the hope I could catch a glimpse of the Iberian Wolf. They are active at dawn and dusk – they are crepuscular (bet you didn’t know there was a word for animals being active at those times.)
The streets were dark and finding the arrows was difficult, I used Gronze Maps to keep on track. It led up to the castle and down a dirt path requiring the head torch. However I was stopped in my tracks by building works.
I had to return and descend the hundreds of steps down to the road below – pilgrims don’t like steps. I followed the road for a few kilometres before getting to the woodlands – I didn’t see any wolves.
The path joined the road again, and it went on forever. The mountains in front were slowly turning golden as the sun was rising.
Eventually it veered off and ascended through a small woodland to Terroso. I had covered 10km, and needed a break. I parked myself outside the small church to the village and munched on some chocolate digestives.
It was back on forrest trails until Requejo de Sanabria. I called into a cafe for a Kas limón before continuing. On the way out I passed a sculpture with a poem on it.
The first line is “you like the solitude, you want to be the protagonist of this Camino” definitely sums these couple of stages – I haven’t seen another pilgrim since leaving Rionegro!
It was back into the forest that led to the feet of the two huge flyovers built for the high speed train. This was where the fun started. The arrows sort of, went rogue.
A hastily painted one was on a crash barrier, then on the floor fence posts had been arranged into an arrow pointing up the service road to the tunnel entrance for the rail.
About halfway up this steep road, something didn’t feel right. I looked to my left across the river to see the white concrete way markers. I pulled out the app. I had passed a turn off that leads to the path between the two towering flyovers.
I backtracked down to join it, only to come to a sign prohibiting passage. The small wooden bridge had collapsed on the other side, leaving a waist high concrete wall. I wasn’t going to turn around and find an alternative way.
Tentatively I crossed. It held me. I placed both my hands on the ledge – I probably should have taken off my pack. With an unceremonious jump, I rolled on the path, righting myself onto all fours – just as well I’m the solo protagonist of this Camino, saved me the embarrassment of anyone seeing me.
The reason for the weird markings came apparent. There must have been flooding at some point as the banks where the route below led, looked washed away, and probably the bridge as well.
The path then led to a ruined building and through the gate a yellow arrow pointed the way, so did Gronze maps. My Camino senses were tingling again. I passed through the gate that gave access to the train tunnel.
I went back to the ruins and followed an unkempt path around the rear. This lead to a small suspension bridge over the river. Warning signs for no more than two people on it at once.
Once I stepped on, I understood why. It had to be the most bounciest bridge ever made, like bouncy castle bouncy! After catapulting to the other side it was a brutal up hill climb.
The route zigzagged upwards on paths that weren’t well maintained. It was the hardest climb so far on the Sanabrés. The arrows had disappeared and were replaced with yellow tipped posts.
It was hard going. I turned one zag to come face to face with a cow. It immediately scarpered up the path, pausing every now and then to check if I was still there.
I finally emerged from the tree line at the top to see the valley I had just ascended. It was then back to road walking into Padornelo. I called into the bar for a cold drink and a generous portion of tortilla y patata. It had just started to rain and the temperature had dropped, the Camino was telling me to take a break.
By the time I rejoined the way, the rain had subsided, although I kept my coat on as it was chilly. Following the road around a few precarious bends brought me back to forest paths.
This time it was a lot more gentle, and it had warmed up. I removed my jacket to see a hand painted sign on the tree opposite “Atención Abejas”. The first word is self explanatory, but the second? I looked in the field opposite. It was full of hives – Bees! There’s another word added to my vocabulary.
The route meandered into Aciberos where the arrows disappeared. Luckily an elderly gentleman was getting into his car and shouted “Ruta de Peregrino” and point in the direction I needed to go.
Back on winding forest paths and a couple more short but steep climbs got me into Lubián. I passed the ruins of old buildings; on the lintel to one door it had “1709” etched into it. The walls may still stand but the Amazon jungle resided within.
A short walk from there I arrived at the albergue. First to arrive – I would be, I’ve not seen a fellow pilgrim all day!
A little oddity I’ve experienced on the Sanabrés, is they leave the Albergue’s open and the hospitaleros appear at a set time – in this one, between 7pm and 7.30pm.
As far as Albergue’s go, this isn’t a good one. Very tired, which would explain the 5€ price! It had a hot shower and a bed, you don’t need more.
Chores done I went to the local bar, a couple of drinks later I returned to the albergue and it’s just me for the night. I returned to the bar for the pilgrims menu.
It had been a day of challenges and a little further than I’d expected. It’s also going to be weird spending the night alone in an albergue.
This was my last full day in Castilla, tomorrow I cross into Galicia.
Stu's Camino 