Cacabelos, Spain

We were happy we made it all the way to Cacabelas before the next storm broke. Our bodies are weary so we kept it to about 13 miles today. We walked steadily and quietly through magical woods, groves filled with birdsong, budding vineyards and newly worked fields. The windflowers were out full force. We also strode through the vast urban landscape of Ponferrada. We saw a lovely castle, but didn’t slow to see what was inside. We stopped for coffee and a chocolate croissant in Ponferrada, then later we stopped again in a village for a sandwich. We reached our destination by 3:30. Now we are snug in our hotel room after a hot bath, and handing over our muddy clothes to the laundry. We’ve planned and reserved for tomorrow’s hike when we reach the base of O’Cebreiro, a high pass which we will take two days to do. It seemed we were alone a lot today, and the cluster of hikers we ran into were fairly subdued. Perhaps we are all in a trance of daily walking.