But it didn’t start out quite so bad, except for the two old men in the bunks across from us that snored like the dickens. All night. Never mind that they had shipped CPAP machines but somehow took them off. Sigh. No one slept well. We all bonded over how dreadful they were.

So we got up very early, having a quick breakfast. Out we went into the dark of night as it was a full hour and a half prior to sunrise. We needed headlamps to even see the uneven hills to climb. At least it began dry. For a bit. And then the inevitable rain began. Umbrellas came out. We dodged lots of large rivulets running down everywhere.

And then it turned nicer. Not sunny, but not raining. Pleasant. Which was good since this was going to be the longest walk I’d do to date. But then I saw windmills up on the ridge. Geez. Not again! When we hiked the Primitivo I knew every time we saw them it meant another uphill. Same here. Somehow I didn’t recall this area having all these hills. Probably better that I didn’t remember.

We found a cafe up a huge flight of stairs, but it was worth hoofing up to it. We had coffee and toast. Got to chat with a few pilgrims. Which is good because all the people we had met on the way to Santiago have left. Now hikers on this section are from all the Caminos which converged on Santiago. Feels like we’re starting over. With only a few days we sort of hesitate to connect. But you’ll soon see that doesn’t last!

Off we went refueled. Weather was fairly good. Not raining, not sunny but ok. We walked on at a fairly good clip. I was pretty proud of myself for keeping up.

We stopped at a remote vending machine that had a bench for a little foot refresher, which was rejuvenating.

But knew we had a good distance to go before next bar/cafe. We found Casa Pepa along with a pair of Canadians who had been at our hostel the night before. It was crowded so we asked if we could join them. They had a Spanish dentist along with them, so we all enjoyed lunch together.

But then the rain started to fall. We moved from under the grapevine to under a solid roof. Then it began to pour. And I mean POUR! We all had to move our packs out of the rain pouring under our table. Copious amounts of beer were consumed (not by me!) while we waited to see if it would subside. It didn’t. We finally decided we just had to go for it.

Which we did. Unfortunately. It just got worse. The rain poured. The gusts of wind pushed us everywhere. Our umbrellas became too difficult to keep in our hands free configuration. Even holding it separately became so difficult I couldn’t use my poles at the same time. Which was a dilemma as I can hike the hills better with the poles. The wind gusts were the strongest we’ve dealt with yet. We struggled to keep them up and for me to stay upright. Eventually I gave up and decided I couldn’t possibly get more wet. I closed the umbrella and used the poles. Mandy reminded me that if it were easy then everyone would do it. Ultreia! Onwards!

One last excruciating hill later we finally reached our albergue. Our amazing host let us come in, drop our wet gear, find our bunks and get showered even before officially checking in.

We eventually did so, including getting in the queue for laundry. While that was underway we opted for some beer and wine with our new Canadian friends. A father and son. And the father was a loggie in the Canadian Air Force.

Drinks turned into dinner, as luckily our albergue also offered a delicious menu. Much conviviality and drinks later we actually made it to our bunks. So if you find any of this slightly incoherent, you can blame it on the wine. Tonight I deserved it!

17.56 miles with 42,569 steps