Leaving O Cebreiro in the morning
Camino January 2026
Wednesday January 28, 2026
O Cebreiro to Triacastela – 15.0 miles
The weather has been a national topic the past few weeks here in Spain. Some random news headlines from today: (I just Googled Spain Weather)
Spain trapped in wet and windy cycle as Storm Kirstin brings more bad weather – The fifth named storm of 2026 so far has led to weather warnings for almost all Spanish regions on Wednesday, with more very strong winds.
Weather chaos in Spain as Storm Kristin blows in
Spain extreme weather – A severe Atlantic storm caused widespread power failures, fatalities, and transport disruption in Portugal and Spain, prompting national emergency responses..
I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I have been discussing the weather quite a bit in this journal. It has certainly been wet and windy, much more so than normal. I do feel there are fewer people walking this year. Maybe the local Europeans aren’t walking because of all the weather attention. Every time I am in a café that has a TV there is a news story about the weather. It honestly has not really affected my hike. I have proper gear and every night I am staying in a warm dry place. That is key to dry everything out for the next day. I am now through the last of the mountains, so no more snow.
OK, back to the regularly scheduled journal – Today was a beautiful snow walk. I started in O Cebreiro, elevation 4,260 feet. There was plenty of fresh snow, so I choose to walk the road again this year. There were no footprints on the regular path and only one set on the road. Five miles in, I stopped for a Cola Cao. It was still snowing quite hard. I had climbed 200 feet from the start. The snow plows were out in force. The next few miles were staying above 4,000 feet, so still lots of snow. It is amazing how things changed so quickly as I did the 2,000 foot descent into Triacastela. It was snowing quite hard and 7 miles later it was cloudy and the fields are all green. I did stay on the road until about a mile from the end. This added 2 miles to the walk, but it was much faster walking and my feet stayed dry.
I forgot to mention, yesterday I crossed in to Galicia, the last region of the Camino. Santiago and Fisterra are both in this region. It is my favorite area of Spain.
Side note – 4 days ago I stayed in the same place as Netherlands 1 and 2. Now, 1 is a full day ahead of me and 2 is a full day behind. I don’t know where Korea and mom are, but they are at least a day behind. I never caught the footprints on the road in front of me, so maybe tomorrow. I didn’t see any other pilgrims walking around town this afternoon – restaurant, laundry, grocery or pharmacy.
Thursday January 29, 2026
Triacastela to Sarria – 11.5 miles
Today was a great day for walking – cloudy, mid 40s, great scenery and some hills. The forecast was for the rains to hold off until after 1PM. Great, a short day (11+ miles), I should be able to do that in about 4 hours. Leave at 8:30 and arrive 12:30 – 1:00. The morning showers had just stopped. I hiked in just my shirts, no jacket. There was a climb to start, so I was plenty warm. The path is still very wet in places. Early on I did pass two women (I think they were American). They had their phones out identifying the birds chirping. I figured I would see them later, so I kept on walking. There was another gentleman who I thought was with them, but maybe not. I looked back at one point and saw him walking alone. I never did see them again. Maybe tomorrow. They did not look like they had been walking for 4 weeks. My guess is they started fairly recently.
I love the ups and downs and all the small farms in this area. If you don’t like the smell of manure, then you should probably take the route that follows the road through the valley. There was nothing open on this route (as expected). When I got about two miles from Sarria I took a quick stop to drink and get a snack. I checked the weather, rain was now forecast for noon, not 1. I figured by the winds and looking at the clouds. Sure enough, it started raining a few minutes later. Oh well. There was a bus stop handy, so on came the rain jacket. No big deal.
I checked in to the same hotel I stayed at last year. Attached to a restaurant and laundry on site. Perfect. This is a big place. I think they have 16 rooms. I checked in and the rains had pretty much stopped, so I walked about ½ mile to a Mercadona grocery store. I got a snack for now, and snacks for later. They have tables and chairs in the front to eat at. A mom and son joined me at a separate table. I always enjoy just observing the goings on. Soon after returning to the hotel, it started pouring again. As I sit here writing this it is pouring and the winds are very strong. Sure is nice to be inside. OK, now off to get some dinner.
Dinner was great. 13 euro for the menu of the day. I had macaroni for the first course. It was a large plate of pasta with sauce of lots of pieces of pork. It was not a tomato based sauce. I am not sure what it was, but I really enjoyed it. For a second course I had roasted pork. I didn’t know the macaroni would have pork when I order. Anyway, the primary dish was also excellent. The dinner came with bread and wine, as well as dessert. It was a great deal. They open at 7 in the morning for breakfast, so I will do that then plan to leave here about 8:30. Tomorrow’s weather forecast is for an inch of rain. All my stuff is now dry. It is 13 miles to Portomarin and I just made a reservation for a room there (50 euro).
It is crazy to think I have already walked over 415 miles and have only 5 days remaining to get to Santiago. This walk has flown by. I have been feeling great physically all month. I started with a sore Achilles tendon that worried me a bit at the start, but it has been fine and not affected anything. I am very pleased with my gear choices. I did buy the gloves in Astorga and am glad I did. I only wore them twice, but they made a huge difference. I also bought a pack cover in Leon. It has also been a great addition.
Travel is the perfect catalyst for tolerance and acceptance. – Author unknown
Gary and Elizabeth's Adventures 