It is amazing what an effect weather has on a trip, especially when the trip is focused on being outdoors. When hiking or climbing, there is no escape from the weather, be it sunny and hot or stormy and cold, you are in it and have to deal with it. On this Camino, the weather is again an issue, but each night is a reprieve from dealing with it. During the day while walking it assaults or caresses you. You can hide from it temporarily by stopping in at a cafe, but to progress forward you have to encounter it. At night, enclosed in an albergue, the weather can do its worst, or best and you are ignorant of it. That can be viewed as good or bad, depending on the experiences you are seeking.
Up until a few days ago, the weather has been mostly dry; sunny skies, low humidity and gentle winds. As we approached Santiago and entered the region known as Galicia, the humidity has risen and just yesterday clouds covered the sky in that Seattlesk slate grey of winter. The most noticeable effect was on our laundry. It doesn’t dry. Wash it in the evening, hang it up and it is still wet in the morning. No room in the air for the moisture to leave the cloth and become airborne. Everything has become “clammy”.
As told in yesterday’s blog, it poured rain all morning long. We hid in a bus and then albergue until it passed then walked to visit the “end of the earth”. The forecast today was for intermittent light rain during the morning followed by sunnier skies between 10 and 3, then a chance of rain again. But, the forecast for Monday was not good at all, especially after 11 in the morning when the rain and wind were forecast to visit us in full force. We decided we would try to dodge the rain and hike the whole 18 miles to Muxia on Sunday to avoid getting caught in Mondays storm. We could suffer a little rain this morning if the sun were to shine later.
I woke at 4:30 this morning to the sound of water spilling out of gutters and splattering on the cobblestone streets. “Well, only one morning of walking in the rain. We can do that.” I thought. I dozed until my alarm woke me at 5, then slipped out of my upper bunk and woke Sally. We snuck into the common area, ate breakfast and finished packing. I stuck my head out the door to check on the weather. Did we need to start out in our rain gear? I didn’t hear any sign of rain.
We slipped out the door and started walking north through town. The street was wet and puddles abounded, but a look skyward showed the waning half moon and stars. Could we be this lucky?
We followed the beach on a nice slate paved walkway for nearly a mile, then turned off the beach and followed roads, heading north toward Muxía. The moon and stars continued to show. It was warm, in the low 60s. We packed our fleece and enjoyed our windy, but warm walk in the dark.
As the sun began to light the eastern horizon we could see the sky was totally clear. That was unexpected! The way was mostly single lane roads, some paved, some gravel through forests and fields. It was beautiful. We did not see another person for the first three hours, something that had never happened on the Camino before. During the whole of this time we could hear the crashing of the ocean on shore, first behind us back in Finisterra, then to our left as we paralleled the coast, inland less than a mile. The way had two moderate hills to climb across our 17 mile distance
Sally had purchased two real Pepsis in Finisterra yesterday at the grocery store. She knew today we would not be passing any cafes or stores, so she planned to have me carry one for a mid morning caffeine hit. Being kind, I put it in the freezer when I woke up so it would be icy cold when she got around to drinking it later in the morning. Being stupid, I walked out the door and forgot it in the freezer. When she found out, she was very disappointed. Luckily, we passed a sawmill operation at about mile 4 this morning and the owner had a Coke machine out for his workers. Two euros and we had two bottles of coke to energize our morning stroll.
Windmills have been visible everyday of these past 4 weeks and today was no exception, accept whereas before they were off in the distance, today we walked very near them, close enough to hear the sound peculiar to them.
We came to the town of Lires at mile 8 and found the albergue/cafe. We stopped in for a Coke and a potty break, although we both wished we had asked for hot tea. We got up to leave and headed out of town, finding a stone picnic table on the outskirts. We stopped to eat some bread and cheese, nectarines and bananas. We started out again. About 150’ up the road Sally realized she had forgotten her walking sticks at the cafe back in town. I offered to run back and get them, but she reasoned she would just leave them. She would have to leave them in Santiago anyway, because she couldn’t board the airplane with them and she wasn’t really using them that much anyway.
We started to see a few more people, passing us and coming the other way. That was a first. People walk from Finisterra to Muxia and Muxia to Finisterra.
At the top of the last rise we were in heather with the windmills towering above us. We stopped for a few minutes to sit and have a few crackers, then we started down the slope to the seashore and the mile flat walk into Muxía.
We found the municipal albergue on the other side of the peninsula and registered. It was a concrete building, reminiscent of the Huxley buildings on the Western Campus. Lots of wasted space.
We had shipped Sally’s pack to this albergue, but I had gotten a call earlier in the day from the transport company while walking that said they had dropped it off at one of the local businesses. While Sally rested, I hiked down to the waterfront and found my pack.
The kitchen downstairs was spartan, no refrigerator, few dishes or utensils, but enough for us to cook and eat some soup. With dinner done, we headed down to town and entered the same cafe Sally’s pack was at. In there we met Mike and Judy. We had met Judy earlier, but this was the first time we met Mike. Sally and Judy hit it off and Mike and I talked for the next 90 minutes, ranging from literature, writing, economics, climbing, hiking, Free Solo, favorite books and more. We finally headed out the door to walk the waterfront quay. We got 300 feet down the shoreline where a bus was unloading and saw Jergen getting off the bus. What?!? It is so strange to be in a foreign country and yet run into people you know at every turn. We chatted for a minute, then he had to run to check in to his albergue. We returned to ours, and settled into bed.
Chuck enjoys his yogurt before stepping out into the dark morning to walk
Sally travels the streets of Finisterra with the aid of her headlamp
The stone pillars mark the way
Chuck satiates Sally’s caffeine needs at the Coke machine
The way passed near many amazing and nearly uninhabited beaches
Through forests
Lunch in Lires, about 8 miles from Finisterra
The stone buildings for keeping maize dry are held up with stone mushrooms.
Up amongst the windmills and heather. Very windy.
A beautiful beach about a mile from Muxia.
Sometimes the “way” is no more than the shoulder of what looks like a very busy highway. 4 cars passed us in half an hour. Pretty safe walking.
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