Friday, 10 May 2024
Vilavella to A Gudiña
14.2 kilometers

Today we started in Lubián, the last town in Castille Y León. We will be in Galicia from today until ending our pilgrimage walk in Santiago de Compostela. Because of the very long, tiring, and frustrating day yesterday, we decided to forego the long uphill climb after leaving Lubián, instead, taking a taxi to Vilavella. Starting there, the day’s walk will be about 14.2 kilometers with far less uphill climbing than had we started in Lubián. Much of the walk today was near creeks, and some rocky up and down hills in between. An example of a natural bridge over one of the creeks is here:

The map and profile are shown here. The profile shows some climbing, but far, far less than yesterday. The days are warmer, so we took our time, not wanting to overexert ourselves in the warm afternoon.

Shortly after starting our walk in Vilavella, we crossed over a creek. Here are Dan and Ron ready to cross, full of energy after a good night’s sleep.

The day got warm quickly, and the sky was blue with no hint of clouds. I got a photo of Ron at a waymarker indicating 240 kilometers to go to Santiago. Soon after this, the sleeves were rolled up, and I removed my jacket and top layer.

Continuing to follow a quiet, natural path, I took this photo of Dan and Ron ahead of me.

We came upon a church where there must have been a more vibrant village at one time. This church is still in use – there were flowers in a window and the doors are new and locked with modern locks. This might be by the village of O Pereiro.

There are many what I refer to as “monument waymarkers,” some older with just a graphical depiction of a shell and a yellow arrow, and some newer with a newer look and a count of the number of kilometers to Santiago de Compostela. The monument waymarkers now have “Galicia” at the bottom instead of Castille y León. These kilometer counts are to the meter, for example in this photo, the distance is 237.077 kilometers. I suspect this is the number of meters to the cathedral, and for now, I’ll just take their word.

The terrain changed almost suddenly, and we were climbing up a very rocky and challenging hill, the first of a few of these to come. After climbing, we would descend, cross a creek, and then climb up again. In the valleys, it was green and lush; on the hills here, it was dry with some bushes and rocky.

In one of the greener areas, Ron took a photo of me at a monument waymarker, kilometer 232.315.

I rounded a corner after coming up a gradual and slightly greener hill, and there was a very new-looking tractor parked between some bushes, just off the dirt road, ready to be used.

Then we crossed over a non-electric train line. The rails were slightly shiny, indicating recent use, but not shiny enough to indicate heavy, frequent use. I suspect this is a local freight line. The roadbed is well-maintained.

As we approached A Gudiña, the yellow arrows and monument waymarkers took us off the path defined by the Wise Pilgrim app. Yesterday, trusting the yellow arrows led us to a long, difficult backtrack. Should we trust the yellow arrows of the Wise Pilgrim app? After some deliberation and because they were not very far apart, we followed the yellow arrows. And soon arrived in the city of A Gudiña. Unfortunately, our accommodation was a 15-minute walk to the far end of the town. Just a few minutes before our hotel, we stopped for lunch, rested, and then finished the walk to Hotel Bruma II, our home for two nights.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we will walk about 20 kilometers to Campobecerros, and then be transported back to A Gudiña. On Sunday, we will be transported from A Gudiña to Campbecerros and continue our walk 15 kilometers to Laza.

A very good day on the Camino de Santiago – no surprises, and a nice day to walk.

Next: A Gudiña to Campobecerros, 20 kilometers