In a Sea of Clouds

Day 26 Triacastela to Sarria

Miles today: 11.0

Elevation gain: 910’

Descent; 1639’

Walking miles: 317.7

Total Camino miles: 432.2

Live life with no excuses, travel with no regret – Oscar Wilde

The day starts with breakfast at 7 and on the road by 7:40. Today we head a relatively short distance—11 miles—into Sarria where we meet Judy and Eileen.

It is a chilly 39 degrees as we set out, just a couple hundred yards through the edge of town and we hit a narrow country road that soon becomes a dirt path. We are in the fog along a small rushing stream. Numerous pilgrims are behind and in front of us. The path is bordered with ferns and moss.

We quickly climb 800’ vertical feet, the path is steep but not too muddy today. Soon we level off and the view is spectacular. We gaze at what looks like a huge lake...it’s is a sea of clouds in the distant valleys.. Hills appear as islands in a sea.

Soon we begin down a steep path. I have gotten ahead of Chum and Blaze so I stop and it by a small church with a cemetery and mausoleum. In a few minutes they appear and we walk together. At six miles we stop for our usual coffee drinks at a tiny cafe in a tiny village called Furela. We meet a young woman from Australia who now lives in NYC and works as an “actor” in plays in the city. She started the same day as us almost a month ago and somehow this is our first time to meet her.

The country side has changed dramatically since our start. Early on the fields were full of yellow blooming rape seed, then thousands of acres of wheat, and later an equal amount of grape vines being grown for wine. Now the hillside are full of cattle and fields of growing hay. It looks a like lot northern England with the stacked stone fences, but the livestock here is cattle, not sheep.

At 10 miles I have moved well ahead of Blaze and Chum so I stop under a grove of pine trees for lunch and to let them catch up. I think that perhaps they have stopped to talk with someone we have met previously. Could it be Gwen, the self proclaimed “Newfie” (from Newfoundland) that we met on day two? Or is the the “Iron Maiden”, the lovely young blonde German that lady’s wears a scowl on her face and never responds when greeted? Or could it be the guy we have met talked to on and off for a couple of weeks that we call “a real character”, the guy who showed up at dinner last night wearing a short red lace dress with makeup and sporting new boobs?

Twenty five minutes later Blaze and Chum appear and it seems that the miles along with the recent long downhill stretches have finally caught up with Chum. His knee hurts and he is limping badly. He now dislikes the downhills more than he previously disliked the uphills. Over 300 miles of walking does take a toll on the body.

We finish lunch and continue towards Sarria which is visible in the distance. Soon we meet Judy and Eileen hiking towards us. They had set out to surprise us! We all walk slowly together into town.