Pilgrims Log 12

7/15

Today was an excellent day, as was yesterday and the day before that and, honestly, every day as far back as I can remember on the Camino. Walking has a way of flushing the bad memories away to leave you only with the gems.

I’ve stopped walking so early in the morning, because the weather has gotten more mild. Highs between 78-84 degrees are not too hot to walk in and so I prefer to take a slower approach. I like to walk for a few hours and find an awesome place to eat lunch, and then I like to find a place where I can swim in the river (if available, recently it’s been so easy to find). I’ll eat and swim for a few hours, then pick up my pack for a late afternoon stroll into the next town or so.

One hospitalero recently was very angry about my leisurely pace and aloof attitude towards finding an available bed. I’m not sure why he was so upset, there were plenty of available beds for us and he seemed more interested in fearmongering than welcoming me to his albergue. If I can’t find a bed, so what? I’ll sleep outside by the river. Who cares?

You’ll find a lot of people on the way that have strong opinions about how to do it. Wake up early, no donkey service, no vino no camino (I genuinely agree with this one), book your albergue in advance, etc etc. Again I say: who the hell cares?

Tonight I am staying in O Cebreiro, which marks the entrance of Galicia and also the beginning of the end of the Camino Frances. This is the final hurdle (literally - it’s a 4,500 foot ascent and descent) before you reach the end section beginning in Sarria. I have about 100 miles to go and I’m feeling bittersweet. I wish I was back in St Jean with my dad to start it all over again. We were green and ready for a mess of adventure and now I’ve had a mess of adventure. But it’s bad luck to go backwards on the Camino, so best not to dwell on that for long.

I’m having the time of my life, that’s the main takeaway here. Don’t worry about me, because I’m doing something I truly love.

E ultreia e suseia