Listen With Your Heart

El Ganso/Rabanal/Foncebadon

Oct 3. 11.5 km. Mostly uphill

After leaving our albergue in El Ganso, we were greeted with a path that more closely resembled a ditch and were grateful that there was no rain...again. The ditch gave way to asphalt for a few miles and eventually to the uphill climb through a riverbed.

Again, we are so very blessed to have the weather we've had. Very little rain is not the normal weather for this area during late summer and early autumn. 

The riverbed walk was a wonderful dance with slate and rocks. There was a fence that skirted the riverbed path for nearly two miles, that was covered with crosses of all sorts.

Fancy crosses or just two sticks, I'm sure each one had a story to go with it. 

 As we climbed on our path today, we were surrounded by scrub oak, which had been washed clean with rains a week ago. In the distance, beyond the scrub oak, I could hear the cowbells in the fields and the cattle lowing.

The terrain has changed today. Two days ago, we walked in wheat, corn and barley fields.

Today we walked into short pines and a gain elevation of 500 meters. We are now at about 1200 meters elevation. The weather is significantly colder and we are grateful for the hot water in showers. While the mornings are cold, the sun breaks out and by 9 AM we are usually shedding our hats and jackets.

We made a rest stop in a field filled with little purple flowers. They look like crocuses, but they have no green base. The field was wild with them and the morning sun made them sing with color.

John did great with the kinetic tape on his shins through it.  I'm so glad that John's leg is better. He had some strange pooling of blood above his sock line today that was quite painful. After some thought he remembered that it's been a few weeks since he's had aspirin. We will get some in the next town that has a farmicia. Other than that, he is doing fine.

Tomorrow we will go to Cruz Farro, a rather sacred place on the Camino.

I walked the 2 km up to it today from our albergue while John rested. It isn't much to look at, but it has a strong emotional pull. At 4934 feet above sea level, it is an iron cross on top of a pole, that has become an abiding symbol for those who walk the Camino. Centuries of worries, loves and memories are piled around this simple cross. It was such a different feel, waking on the path with no backpack. I had a skirt, jacket and hiking boots. The weather and mountain views were spectacular.

When I returned from my stroll up the mountain, I took some pictures of this incredibly old village. It once served as an important way station for pilgrims, but fell into disuse during the industrial revolution when there were few and fewer people walking the Camino.

Domincan run albergue 

The goat gets plenty of attention

Crunbled ruins dating back nearly 1000 years. 

Foncebadon has had a resurgence with more and more people taking the time to walk. 

We had dinner at an incredible medieval style restaurant that was recommended to us by a Belgian when were were in Carrion. The veal and ribs were delicious and there was enough to make our lunch for tomorrow. 

Our walk tomorrow has some very steep declines, which are hard on my knee and John's calves. We plan for only 12 km. If we feel good, we will go on another 5 km to the next albergue. At this point, we are just listening to our bodies and learning to stop when we need to.

Listen with your heart, not your ego. My saying for the day.