10/06/2024 – Walking the walk 14

Day 26 – Today was only 22km. In that space, though possibly not on tomorrow’s much longer stage, we started to feel our second wind, Inshallah.

We climbed slowly, steadily through hills, scented with thyme, oregano, lavender, joined by purple bell heather and the resinous tang of pines as we kept ascending. The sky glowered, but rain did not fall (yet). Instead, we had a much cooler, overcast day. Combined with the short distance, we arrived in good spirits, still energetic.

I mentioned that Leòn, Astorga were Roman towns. Leòn is, apparently, a corruption of “Legion”. Service in the legions was the primary route to Roman citizenship. After 20 years, you were discharged, enfranchised and given land. The Auxillary (foreign) units of the 7th Legion stationed in Leòn, were North African. They were settled locally and built their houses and barns in adobe (mud, stones, horsehair). These are, therefore, the characteristic structures of the valley. As we ascend, out of Roman reach, the architecture reverts to the stone buildings of the Asturian tribes. This area reminds me of Scotland – hills, heather and stone crofts.

I also thought about how this region resembles the world my parents joined in the 1930s: in my dad’s case, the valley – fertile farming land, still husbanded through traditional family farms, though with enough heavy machinery to be reducing the population; in my mum’s case, the hills – the marginal farming land of the Devon moors. I thought how good it is that that world still exists somewhere; how rich, fragrant, noisy (birds, frogs, insects) it is. Things and people LIVE here. Its complexity, interconnectedness are vanished from so many other places.

Day 27 – Every day on the Camino you are only one poor decision away from hospital. That has never felt more true than today, one of only two days rated as “strenuous” on the entire trail (the first being Day 1, which, you will recall, was 1km almost straight up, then 500m almost straight down!). Today took us to the highest point, 1,515m above sea level, then a 1km descent that was, frankly, unnecessarily dangerous. The path was slick, uneven, unstable, steep, narrow (really? 100k+ pilgrims walk the Camino annually, and the path doesn’t even rate as single file for hundreds of metres on end?).

We got through it, meticulously and uninjured, which was far from assured. It is fair to say, we would not have succeeded a couple of days ago. We are in much better shape now – the trail is hardening us, Mashallah. In general, the blessing “may the road rise to meet you” could probably apply to today. The rising was fine. It was the falling (or rather trying very hard NOT to fall) that was the issue.

Still, we are safely in Molinaseca, in our hostel’s garden, watching our clothes dry on the rack, trying, hilariously but pointlessly, to get a non-blurry picture of the oscillated lizard who lives in the pile of tiles by the wall.