A fairly short day of 22km including taking theme wrong turn in O Barco. We mostly followed the river Sil today through vineyards and cherry orchards. Again, there seems to be some type of plague with the cherries where they seem to be missing low hanging fruit after we go through. Today we found some cherries in their prime that just melted in our mouths…
All of the weather services threatened rain all day. We were lucky enough to have missed any rain and about 45 minutes after we got to A Rúa, the sky opened up and gave us a nice deluge and a show of thunder and lightning.
I didn’t take too many pictures today but here are some…
Today was a short day – most days from here on out are around 20km or so +/-. While it was short, it was intense. The first km out of Las Médulas took us up 80m. Not too bad but a good way to get the heart pumping. What happened next over the next 4-5km was wow! We hit the summit and then plunged to 370m from 820m. That’s at 450m drop in 4-5km. 100m/km. That’s a significant drop and it was non-stop. Better down than up I say…
Anyway, the route took us again through chestnut and cherry orchards down to the valley of the Rio Sil where in the 8km we followed it, it was damed 3/4 times for hydraulic power.
One of the most interesting things about the different reservoirs is that due to drought, the flow is fairly slow, so the oxygen content is lower than it should be. The reservoirs are populated with trout and sucker fish. The sucker fish can grow to be pretty large and you could see them in the middle (it’s less than 100m wide at its widest point ) breaching the surface to gulp air. These suckers are BIG!!! They were too far away for my phone camera to pick them up.
The trail along the river was nice and well maintained by the locals – they use it for their daily walks and weekend mountain bike riding. The road paralleled the trail on opposite sides of the river so there were no cars.
Today was interesting weather-wise. There’s an inversion layer so it didn’t cool down last night and we started out at about 19°C. And quickly rose to 29° by the time we got to town. Since then it’s gone up to 33° – all overcast. Tomorrow it is forecast to rain all day with thunder and lightning. But it will be cooler.
Today is the first day of the second Camino this year. The first Camino was the Olvidado which went from Bilbao to Ponferrada for about 550km. This second Camino is an alternate route of the Camino Frances (which I walked in 2015) and goes from Ponferrada to Santiago for about 266km.
Ponferrada seems like a nice city. By looking at it, you would think it’s several times larger than Santa Rosa by all of the traits you would find in a larger city – dense housing in the center, quality public transit, museums, cultural centers, etc. But Ponferrada actually only has just under half the population that Santa Rosa does.
The river Sil bisects Ponferrada and the Camino de Invierno follows it for much of its length. The first day out of Ponferrada takes us on mountain dirt roads which turn into farm tracks. It takes us above the valley floor which shows not an insignificant agricultural valley which runs to the west and south. Being above the valley floor, we were able to observe the high mountains on the other side, which we would have taken via the French way. O Cebreiro at 1300m loomed in the distance.
The Camino took us through alternating wet and dry ecosystems depending on the slope we were on. We were treated to orchards of cherry and chestnut trees, mixed with vineyards and little gardens with fine loam soil on the wet side and oak scrub with wild lavender and rocky soil on the dry side.
As we climbed towards our destination of Las Médulas (more on that later), we cut an unnecessary 5.5km off the trail by bipassing a deviation to a town with no services and a castle. Since I saw a castle yesterday, we decided to take a trail, instead of the highway. The trail took us to climbing 100m in 700m, instead of 4km of road. During this vertical climb, we were treated to shade, light breezes and an hour off our day of walking.
Whether you walk 2km in a day or 42km in a day, the last two are always the hardest. If not physically, then psychologically. Today – was both. Walking on a highway, up hill, no shade and 33°C temperatures made for a complete drenching of everything we were wearing – including the pack. Good thing for a shower and bed at the place we are staying.
Las Médulas… a surprise on the Camino. I really hadn’t thought about doing this Camino, and therefore had not researched anything about it. Las Médulas is a UNESCO site – a controversial one at that. This is the site of the most lucrative, most important and largest open pit gold mine in the Roman Empire. Similar to placer mining where they wash away mountains to get to the gold, here they injected water brought via aqueducts underneath the mountains to cause them to collapse and then wash the fluvial deposits with even more water to extract the gold. This caused huge sections of the mountains to simply disappear. It also filled canyons and valleys with red silt and made reservoirs with the runoff. Now that several hundred years have passed, the vegetation has reclaimed the bare remains of the mine and has created indescribable sights from the remains of mountains. The reason this is a controversial UNESCO site is because of the destruction caused by humans. But the reclaiming of the site by Gaia shows just how resilient Mother Nature is when it comes to the human pestilence and it’s impact on the earth.
For purpose of transparency, I didn’t go hiking into the area, I just saw it from afar, so all of the pictures of Las Médulas but two are not mine.
The last day of the Camino Olvidado. ~550km prescribed and I’ve waked 495km since May 1st.
On the Camino del Invierno, there are 266km from Ponferrada to Santiago de Compostela. That makes a total of 761km. I start the Camino del Invierno tomorrow morning.
So today…
It was supposed to be a short down day of about 12km. Ended up being just under 15km about 9km on asphalt, 5km on a beautiful single track trail called Senda de Bas and two km in town on city streets.
We made excellent time of about 5kph on the first segment and 4kph on the remainder. We got into town just about 10am. Most of the day was walking through pine forests with aromatic flowers blooming – wild jasmine mostly – although there was a lot of wild lavender as well.
Today was a “down” day. We washed our clothes, fixed my phone – and saw the sights. I visited the Knights Templar Castle of Ponferrada- quite an impressive castle. We visited lots of bars and in general a low key day.
My impressions and opinion of the Camino Olvidado…
The Camino Olvidado is a beautiful trek through some remote country with lots of history and historical sights. The Camino infrastructure is lacking, which makes this a difficult Camino. There are many people who are trying to organize and build infrastructure but there’s a long way to go. It is certainly possible, but there’s really no comparison to other caminos as far as infrastructure. Some people want this type of Camino and it is therefore neither good nor bad – it’s just the way it is.
There are very few pilgrims on the Camino Olvidado. I met one – Paco – who’s backpack you see in some pictures. I heard of a few In front of us and a couple behind us. But didn’t see any others. It’s a rather solitary trip – again, neither good nor bad, that’s just the way it is.
The vistas and countryside are fabulous. Springtime on this route would be, in my opinion, is the best time to walk this route. The colors, fragrances, lack of rain, temperatures etc. would be difficult to beat.
One of the most impressive things I encountered on this Camino were the people. The locals willing to go out of their way to help a pilgrim are absolutely outstanding. These people help just because they are -real- people. They don’t expect anything in return, they are just down to earth good people.
Was this Camino what I imagined it would be? Yes and no. I imagined some solitude, the sights and remoteness of this Camino. I did not imaging how few other pilgrims I would encounter. I also didn’t imagine the degree to the lack of infrastructure.
All-in-all, for my gusto, this is near the top of the list for the caminos that I have been on and I am grateful for the opportunity to have been able to experience it.
Today is the penultimate etapa for me on the Camino Olvidado. There are 22 etapas published, the last three head west to meet up with the Camino Frances in Villafranca (my favorite part of the Camino Frances). But I am headed south to Ponferrada tomorrow where I will cross the Camino Frances and start the Camino del Invierno – or the Winter route. This route was used in the winter (bet you didn’t guess that) when the high passes on the Camino Frances were snowed in. I’ll give final personal stats on the Camino Olvidado tomorrow when I complete it.
So with today’s etapa, as I mentioned yesterday, the etapa used (arguably still does) to go through Labaniego – where there are no services and just a shelter – less than an albergue. The locals decided to reroute the two etapas that finished and started in Labaniego so that they finished and started in Noceda. What this did was to cut 4km off yesterdays etapa and add about 6km to today’s etapa. We actually cut 5km off that by making our own alternate route so we came in at 20km door-to-door.
Today took us through coal mining villages where the mines have long since been abandon and are ghost complexes now. Trees are growing back where there was once bare rock and the mining facilities and equipment are overgrown and rusted.
We were treated to green pastures, oak and pine forests, babbling creeks, chaparral and some ups and downs. Most of the walking was on dirt roads with about 6km on asphalt. The hiking was rather pleasant overall with the chaparral being hot-hot and shadeless. Good thing as we got to the top of the climb, the breeze from the reservoir below hit us and cooled us off to a nice stroll down the hill through vineyards to the town of Congosto.
Tomorrow is a short day, only 12km or so, but that will give us kind of a down day and in a city with enough services to get my phone fixed (SIM card not working) and laundry done.
Today was almost a down day/recovery day. At just over 14km and rolling hills with only two climbs that got your heart pounding, it’s just what my feet were asking for.
Starting out at 0800, we had arranged for the owners of the bar/restaurant La Playa to open early and serve us a simple breakfast to get us on our way.
Before we knew it, we had hit two, then three km as we put one foot in front of the other. We then headed up the first climb – a series of climbs for about 2-3 km where we came to a broken cross.
The significance of the cross is that Almanzor – the Moor general of the 10th century wanted to destroy all signs of the pilgrimage to Santiago and thus destroyed ermitas, churches and Christian crosses all over northern Spain.
The modern day significance is purportedly similar to the Cruz de Fiero on the Camino Frances where pilgrims leave a rock at the base which signifies a burden that they have been carrying and leaving it at the cross takes that burden away. I didn’t notice any rocks at the base. I didn’t leave one. I didn’t even carry one. Although I have been carrying a yellow racquetball that I found on the street the second day of the camino in Güeñes.
The Camino today took us through rolling hills, oak woodlands, countryside, orchards and pastures. One orchard we walked through was a chestnut orchard which made my mouth water as I remembered the last time I had roasted chestnuts in Istanbul in 2015.
This stage is normally from Igüeña to Labagniego but there is no Camino infrastructure there. So several years ago, a group of people interested in the Camino redirected the route through Noceda, and built an albergue from the old schoolhouse. Noceda has bars, cafes, restaurants, a pharmacy and the albergue. So it’s a better stop than Labagniego. The diversion happens just out of Quintana de Fuseros.
With this diversion tomorrow’s route to Congosto will be about 20km. You could do one long day of 34km if you are short on time, but after yesterdays tough climb, why not take a rest.
Today was a short day – just over 18km. But in the first three km, we climbed 350m. That’s like climbing ~620 feet per mile (steeper that Wrights Lake Jerry).
Coming up to the summit called Collado de Campo at 1641m, we were presented with an indescribable view of the valley below called Campo de Santiago. Sheer rock cliffs to one side, emerald green pastures below and purple flowered covered mountains on the other side.
Looking at the valley below you wouldn’t even imagine that it is a graveyard of what is said to be 70,000 Moors. The legend has it that in 981CE, an apparition of Santiago appeared before the Spanish on the mountain sides and the Moors in the valley below on his white stallion and with a legion of angles behind him. This gave the Spaniards faith and resolve and scared the Moors. The end result is that that very few Moors escaped and the rest were killed.
At the base of the valley, a hermitage was erected in remembrance of the battle and it has been rebuilt several times. The latest was built in the 19th century.
Following the river Boeza out of the valley for 15km – which is the headwaters, you could easily step across it – we were treated to countless waterfalls and natural springs feeding the river to a beautiful mountain water source and home to many trophy trout. It was difficult to get pictures of the river as the vegetation is so think.
Today was a foggy day in Fasgar and cloudy at the summit, clearing as we made our way down 700+ meters (2300’) in 15km. This trail was a single track trail for the most part which was carved out of the sides of the canyon. It’s been in use for more than 2000 years as a mountain pass between two fertile valleys connecting people which would normally take four days to go around the mountains.
The Camino Olvidado goes through many beautiful valleys and while there are alternate mountain routes that I did not follow, this by far was subjectively the most wild and natural etapa so far. It wasn’t an easy day by any means due to the elevation changes and technical nature of the trail, but it was one of the most rewarding.
Fasgar is at the end of the road. Year round inhabitants are about 10. It’s mostly a vacation spot for hiking, mountain biking, fishing and escaping reality. Local economy is cows and horses (for meat).
Last night at the mouth of the Valle Gordo a storm came though and performed with heavy rain, lightning and thunder. It didn’t last long, or maybe I fell asleep during the storm. The results were that the farm tracks were impassible due to the amount of water, mud and wet. So today’s hike was 18km all on asphalt. Because this area is so remote as the high season has not yet started, any little towns we passed were mostly shuttered and had no services. We had to plan and bring food today’s and tomorrow’s meals – which added several kilos to the pack.
The day was mostly blustery and rain threatened but I was able to stay dry. In the morning the overcast made picture taking less than desirable but I did get some pictures later in the day.
The Valle Gordo is a beautiful valley and the hike was a constant upwards hike. Fasgar is situated at the end of the valley with a mountain pass on a single track headed out, up over the mountains to the south and into another valley – one of which has a huge historical story with Santiago (Saint James). I will tell you the story tomorrow, but from what I understand, he lived up to his name Santiago Matamoros.
The albergue here in Fasgar is clean, modern and well equipped, and run by a nice lady who we didn’t meet as she was up in the mountains. Not sure if she was leading a hike or just passing the day up there.
Last night in Canales- La Magdalena I stayed at a new albergue not listed in any of the guides. Six beds, clean, modern, hot water, kitchen, wash machine, etc. The only thing missing was wifi but the owners also own the Cafe Bar down the street and they have wifi there.
A couple of days ago I met another pilgrim – Paco – from near Barcelona. He’s an avid walker and has done many Caminos. We walked together for 18km or so. I’m going to wait for him to catch up in the morning so we will walk 18km together tomorrow as well.
This is where the days on the Camino and the Etapas diverge. Today’s etapa was 18km. I went 28km today. I’ll have an 18km day tomorrow instead of 28km – I’m ok with that.
Today was a -tough- day. I think mostly because I’m fairly exhausted. But six climbs of over 100m and three of those combined for a total ascent of 400m in 4km will do it too.
Most of today’s hike was off road. Farm track and single track. Some of which were probably Roman roads at one time but since overgrown so difficult to tell. It rained on me the last 4km, but it was a light rain and I am really no wetter than if it was sunny outside and I sweat.
For the next 40km, there are no stores or places to eat. So one thing I ended up doing was buying food for the next two days – although I am eating a great home-cooked meal at Maxi’s right now.
The little hamlet maybe less than a dozen houses here in Vegarienza is along the bank of the river Omaña – a famous trout river here in Spain. It was quite evident by all of the fisherman trying to outsmart the trout. There is one albergue which used to be a move the Casa Médica but because of the pandemic has moved down the block. It’s an old house with creaky floors and doors that get stuck – but it’s right next to the river so the sound of the rushing water will surely lull me to sleep tonight.
The community of Vegarienza is united in their concern for the continued vitality of this town. Estela who runs the albergue retired from Madrid after she moved there when she was 19 after growing up here. She’s a sweat lady who was surprised that I gave her 20€ for the night at the albergue. It’s donativo with a minimum of 8€. I have the whole alberguento myself so it’s like a private room.
It was a tough but good day on the Camino today.
I didn’t take too many pics as it was a tough hike a bit here are some…
Just over 16km today. that’s almost a day off. Except for the 250m climb out and a steep 250m descent dividing the day in half.
I slept in today. Well not really. I woke to my neighbor’s snoring around 0500hrs this morning. Woke up to street noise at 0600 and then just putzed around for a while. I ended up leaving at 0900 and rolled in to La Magdalena at 1300.
The route was nice the best part I think was from about 10km-14km. Nice shaded overgrown farm track that ended up being a nice single track path.
Again, the season is perfect in this area – springtime brings emerald greens, a cacophony of colors if you will, with the wildflower blooms, young calves and foals and soft but not muddy trails.
Today wasn’t a real good day for pictures (hazy valley and flies kept me moving) so not many were taken.
One thing I noticed, even though this was a short day, it doesn’t matter how long of a day you have, the last two kilometers are so tiring. Arrival at the cafe/bar is always accompanied by sore feet.
The next several stages are difficult ones. Not for distance or terrain, but for Camino infrastructure. What I have read and what I have been told is that I will have to carry food for the next 2-3 days. There are places to eat on the way and some stores, but if they are not hit at the right time, you’re out of luck.
I have called ahead three days now and verified the albergues are open and “reserved” a bed by giving them my name – not that they wrote it down. Later tonight I will go to the grocery store and find the right food for BLD for a few days. I have to balance volume, weight, ease of preparation, etc. (even though they just rolled a keg of beer into the pub and however much I’d like to take it, that is just not an option).
There are seven etapas left on the Camino Olvidado until it hits the Camino Frances. I have three of those days dialed in. We will see what happens after that.
Talking to an Australian pilgrim last night – she said her friend is currently ”touring” the Camino Frances. The word is that due to the pandemic, not all albergues have reopened and are charging double what they did pre-pandemic. Not only that but due to the scarcity of beds, pilgrims are reserving beds three and four days in advance. I hope that’s not the case – I don’t like having an agenda on the Camino. But if it ends up being that way, well… it really doesn’t matter. The Camino is and the Camino provides.
and saw the sights. I visited the Knights Templar Castle of Ponferrada- quite an impressive castle. We visited lots of bars and in general a low key day.
