My Camino Day July 31

My Camino Day July 31 was “An easy, short walk. Not much up or down, only 10 km or so. Finished before lunch.” Or so my journal tells me.

Well, it was true. I had been concerned about not arriving in Santiago on schedule and had pushed more than a little early on. That focus on destination, making it about “el Destino” because Jan, Julian, and Mercedes were to meet me on July 30th put a crimp in the spirit of my hike that began an hour or so after I got off the bus in Cadavedo. It lasted until I learned that Julian would be in Panama on business at that time and had to cancel. Then Jan had delayed her arrival to August 1st.

So, here I was, stopping at midday because I did not want to arrive in Santiago before she did.

Not having any real distance to cover, I had plenty of time to stop along the way to take 35 videos. Some of them are part of this story, some are on my YouTube channel, and some are “on the cutting room floor. That many videos meant that there were few photos to choose from, so I hope you enjoy the links to specific photos on my YouTube Channel.

But back to the story of my Camino Day July 31st.

Breakfast

I took it easy leaving Albergue O Trisquel Santalla and easily found a nice breakfast. It should be noted that finding a nice breakfast along the Way is rarely difficult. It is interesting, to me at least, that many bars, including Galaicos where I ate, are open for breakfast.

The hike

The walk was not a tough one by any standard, but it did offer some interesting sights including small urban vineyards. This was just one of them.

One of the things that I noticed as I left the albergue was the collection of suitcases near the doorway awaiting pickup by Camino con Correos or a similar service. Later, as I was hiking along with my (ultralight and minimally equipped) Zpacks backpack resting comfortably on my hips, I realized that I like the feel of the weight. An important note here is that my backpack has a frame that allows it to rest on my hips rather than on my shoulders. A heavy backpack with no frame is a recipe for an unhappy hike.

While I keep writing that this was an easy day, and it really was, it did have one or two minor challenges. One of them was a modest downhill section that took me back to the lesson I learned in 2018 during my arrival in San Sebastian.

There were a variety of minor things along the way. I saw reminders of the reforestation that takes place after logging operations. There was a sizeable number of other pilgrims, some of whom missed a turn and had to retrace a few steps. And the beginning of the commercialization of el Camino de Santiago that Heidi had complained about began.

The Way eventually passes around the end of the Santiago de Compostela airport runway. This brought the day, and all of the steps of my Camino Journey into one type of perspective. I have seen an ancient aqueduct and marveled at the antiquity, the heritage, the history of this region. I have enjoyed the benefits of modernity without much thought. Now, modernity was brought into sharp focus in only a few seconds.

It’s truly not 814 of the Common Era any more. The story of el Camino began then when a hermit Pelagius, who lived nearby had a vision of a star or field of stars.