Thursday, 9 May 2024
Puebla De Sanabria to Lubián
35.7 kilometers

Today’s walk was long and the first 2/3 or 20 kilometers were uphill to the highest point on the Camino Sanabrés. Added to that, we got lost a couple of times on what we hoped would be an easier downhill walk. Getting lost was due to the apps having different routings. The different routings were precipitated by the high-speed rail lines having been under construction for the last 4 or 5 years causing changes in the Camino routing. Now that the high-speed train lines are complete, it would be best if the various apps and the people who place the signs and paint the yellow arrows all got in synch. Right now they are not in synch, causing us great frustration.

Because we needed to backtrack to find the correct route twice, about 2 hours and over 5 kilometers were added to the effort today (and a lot of climbing). It was often beautiful, sometimes muddy, and sometimes frustrating. I have over 45 photos to sort through, it is late, so I’ll just say that this was the most difficult day on my 4 Camino pilgrimage walks, including the two times I walked over the Pyrenees from Saint Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles. It is late, we are very tired, so tonight I’ll just have this summary. Tomorrow, or when I am not so tired, I’ll cover the walk in more detail by updating this entry.

The map and the combined smaller map with the elevation profile are below. It can be seen that even on the downhill side, there was still uphill walking. A long, long, sweaty, and tiring day on the Camino de Santiago.

Tomorrow we leave the Castille Y León and enter Galicia, where Santiago de Compostela is the capital.

Next: Lubián to A Gudiña, 24 kilometers