Saturday, 11 May 2024
A Gudiña to Campobecerros
23.1 kilometers

Today’s walk from A Gudiña to Campobecerros was a difficult 21 kilometers characterized by going up and over a mountain, steep, rocky, and unstable at times. The views of the scenery around us were striking and beautiful. One of the best views was of a large reservoir or man-made lake behind a dam that we never could see.

The walk was to be 21.1 kilometers. We took a wrong route out of town, and after sensing that we were going in the wrong direction, we checked the Wise Pilgrim app and saw that we were far off the correct route to Campbecerros. We think the route we were on might be an alternative cycling route. Nevertheless, we backtracked, adding about 3 kilometers, got back on the correct route, and started the long uphill walk. You can see from the elevation graph that the first part of the walk was mostly uphill, then as we finally got to the top of the mountain, we made a steep and very unstable descent on a dicey path over shale, broken up and often looking like wood.

Here are the three of us as we set out for what was a beautiful, warm, and clear day.

After backtracking to find the correct route, I got a photo of one of the waymarkers indicating that we were indeed on the correct route.

The path on which we were walking was adjacent to the road. Being separate from the road is a little safer even though there are very few vehicles on this road.

At times in the morning, the path rose on a fairly steep hill, just in front of me in this photo. There would be more and much longer hills to climb as the morning wore on.

The scenery was beautiful all day. Words fail me. A beautiful day indeed!

We passed a few farm buildings and then came upon a small flock of sheep with two very young lambs.

We took a break and Ron got a photo of me sitting on a rock eating a granola bar.

Back walking, as we rounded a corner I saw this very elegant-looking tree and it definitely deserved a photo.

And as we got to a point where we could see the lake pretty well, far, far below us, Ron got a photo of me in front of that beautiful vista.

As we continued our walk, far below us were some older non-electric train tracks. I took a photo from a bridge over the tracks to what appears to be an old, now closed, station. I am pretty sure this is the very small village of Venda Da Capela, once vibrant enough to have a train station, now quiet and almost desolate.

Similar to yesterday, we often saw bushes with small white flowers, a beautiful effect.

And the colors of the University of Washington were well-represented today with purple and yellow flowers abundant. [Being an alumnus of Washington State University, I prefer crimson and grey. Flowers of those colors were not to be seen today.]

As we finally got to the top of the mountain and started down the unstable, slippery, and rocky path, we could see the town of Campobecerros far down in the valley below. We have a long, steep, careful descent ahead of us. Patience is important here, even though we are eager to arrive at our endpoint.

After a long day of walking in beautiful vistas, we arrived. They could use a new sign, or perhaps there is a better sign on the main road.

No time to look for a newer sign on another road into town … we are hungry, it is time for lunch. Wandering around the town trying to find the bar/restaurant, a lady saw that we were lost and directed us. The locals are very kind. We found the bar, and after a mixed salad, here is my meal of pork loin, fries (our experience in Spain is that almost every meal comes with fries), and my usual after-walk Coca-Cola.

After a very tasty lunch, we were transported back to A Gudiña for the evening. The driver used the same road that we either walked on or walked by. It took us more than 5 hours to get to Campobecerros, and less than 30 minutes to return in a van. Tomorrow the driver will pick us up at 8:30 and drive us back to Campobecerros to start our walk to Laza.

Next: Campobecerros to Laza, 15 kilometers