Back in wine country
January 26, 2025
Ponferrada to Villafranca del Bierza – 14.5 miles
OK, going back to yesterday, when I first saw the big “dog”, my first thought was that it was a wolf. I discounted that purely because I didn’t think a wolf would come so close to me. I am curious how long he was close by. I’m just glad I turned around and saw him. I’m also glad he didn’t just run away. My first action was to assess his intentions and whether I was in danger. I thought, OK, stand tall, no quick movements and don’t show any fear. He was not acting aggressive an any way. OK, now I need to get a picture. Get my gloves off, dig the plastic bag with my phone out of my pocket in my pants, under my rain pants, and get a photo in the rain. The whole time the wolf is just, whatever, and starts walking past me, like I was on his path, blocking his way. Everything happened so quickly, but was very cool. After I posted I did a little research. The Iberian Wolf does live in this area. The males reach 110 pounds. I took 2 photos from online and put them with my photo. See below. There is an online question – Are there dangerous animals along the Camino. The answer – There are bears and wolves in the mountainous north. However, they are rare and incidents of them causing problems for humans seem to be non existent.
One other thing about yesterday. It was cold, wet and windy in the morning. I expected weather like that on this trip and actually enjoyed the experience. I started the day in a warm hotel room and late morning the path dropped 3,300 vertical feet and the weather became a non issue. Last night I was again in a warm hotel room. Life is pretty good in my opinion.
A little side note – Florida is the only other person I have met walking the Camino from an English speaking country. I am the oldest person that I have seen walking. I would say 90%+ are under 40. I see the weather as a short term inconvenience. We are all safe out here. Most people do not want to go through the discomfort of a winter walk. I just take everything a day at a time. Plus, this is only a month. The Appalachian Trail was 4+ months and much harder to get comfortable at night.
OK, now back to today. The forecast was for light rain all day, becoming heavier in the afternoon. Well, it was pretty much spot on. I started earlier, 7:30, 1:15 before sunrise, to get in before the heavier rains started. Today was a perfect day for the umbrella. There were a few times it was too windy, but it was great to have. Not much to report from the trail. I was ¾ mile ahead of the albergue where most people stayed and since I left early, I only saw 1 person today. He walks very quickly. I did see a few cafes open on the walk, but I had brought food and didn’t need to stop, so I just kept walking. I did take one rest break and a rest area under a tree. That is when the fast walker went by. He doesn’t speak any English and I don’t even know where he is from.
I arrived in town about 1:30. When I walked in to the hotel lobby the gut asks, “Are you Gary?”. I don’t think they are very busy tonight. Last night in Ponferrada I got a WhatsApp message at 2PM from the hotel. They gave me the code to get in the front door and said I had room 10. I show up 30 minutes later and go into the reception area and there on the front desk are about 8 different keys. I grabbed room 10 and went on my way. At least hey had several other guests.
January 26, 2025
Villafranca to O Cebreiro – 17.6 miles
When I woke up I looked at the updated forecast. No rain between 8 and 10. I had a 17.6 mile day ending with a climb to over 4,000 feet, where the rain would be snow. I went next door to get breakfast at 7 when they were supposed to open. Yesterday was a Sunday, so no markets open to buy breakfast stuff. Unfortunately there was no one there to open this restaurant, so back to my room to finish packing.
It was a very light rain and 44 when I started. I hiked in just my long sleeve shirt and umbrella so I wouldn’t over heat. As soon as I was out of town it was dark. I had a head lamp, but it is never this dark at home. The river I was following was flooded as there was 2.2″ of rain overnight. Sunrise was 8:47. I am walking 15 miles a day west, so the sunrise hasn’t really changed since I started. Sunset is now 6:30, it was 5:40 in St Jean.
So the rain started by up at 9:15. Time for the rain jacket and the umbrella. About 9 miles in I walked past a truck stop with lots of activity. Time for breakfast. The place was very busy, but I was the only one with a backpack. I enjoyed my second real breakfast of this trip. Now back out into the rain. It was relentless. At the 13 mile mark the cafe I thought would be open, was closed. Oh well, now the climb really begins with 5 miles to go. I switched my umbrella for trekking poles. The dirt trail was literally walking up a stream. My waterproof shoes were OK till now.
About 2 miles up the rain started to change to snow. I had said before leaving Arizona I hoped to have snow in O Cebreiro, so I was getting my wish. I certainly had second thoughts as you are totally exposed for the final 2 miles. I was very thankful to arrive. The trouble was the hotel isn’t busy, so she turned my heat on when I arrived. As I write this 5 hours later the room is still quite cold. Oh, I am in the restaurant next door sitting by the fire, so nice and warm here.
The power has gone out 4 times since I arrived. Each time it has come back one within a minute or two.
Italy showed up this afternoon. He is still going strong. Barcelona came in to the restaurant. They are headed home now. She will come back to O Cebreiro next year and finish the journey to Santiago.
“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzue
Gary and Elizabeth's Adventures 