Where Do All Those Contrails Go??

Day 28  Portomarin to Palas de Rei

Miles today:  15.9

Elevation gain: 1581’

Descent:  965’

Walking miles: 348.1

Total Camino miles:  462.6

He who would travel happily must travel light – Antoine de St. Exupery

This second day pilgrim is walking with one shoe untied, talking on his cell phone, smoking a cigarette, and carrying an absolutely huge backpack. He will not make it to Santiago!

This was an easy hiking day. Not too much uphill nor too much downhill, and the path was mostly dirt or gravel and thus easy on the feet.

The five of us get an early and fast start. It is colder than anticipated at first, so our pace is brisk to match the temperature and to try to stay warm. An initial step climb warms us quickly as we walk in the fog and clouds. It will remain foggy for most of the morning.

From the beginning we are surrounded by other pilgrims. Blaze, Chum, and I are having a hard time accepting this new Camino reality. No longer can we walk alone. The path is crowded and the cafes are packed. The atmosphere has changed. The “Buen Camino” greeting is rarely heard. Other pilgrims cut in front of you in the cafe line or the toilet line. Finding a “green room” (toilet behind a bush or tree out of sight) is seldom possible. We long for the early, uncrowded days of the Camino. We now appreciate those days so much more.

But we have to accept this as the new normal, at least from here to Santiago. As my friend Dewey says “It is what it is”. We hope that our continued Camino walk from Santiago to Finisterre and on to Muxia will revive some of that old Camino feeling that we long to return to.

These thoughts on the trail today along with the easy footpath give me time to look around. I study the sky and notice a series of contrails that all converge in the same point on the northern horizon. This continues all afternoon. Where are all of these contrails converging? What important city lies far to the north that has so many commercial airline flights headed that way? And what point south of where we are walking could so many planes be originating?

I ponder the answers when Judy and I come upon a young woman sitting along side the trail. We stop and she asks in Spanish with a touch of English “how far?”. I believe she is asking how far to the next town so I answer “about one mile”. She seems perplexed with my answer and I realize no one but the U.S. and the Brits use miles, so I say “two kilometers”. She seems to comprehend but seems distressed with the answer. 

Judy and I wait until the others arrive. Scot asks her in Spanish if she is okay and quickly discovers she is from Columbia and is not okay. We give her water to drink and stingers to eat. We wait with her for 20 minutes as nurse Eileen helps her to drink and eat. Eventually a guy on a motor scooter comes by and inquires in Spanish as to what is happening. After some minutes of a mix of English and Spanish, he agrees to take her on his scooter to a nearby medical clinic. And off she goes. When we came upon her she had an empty water bottle, no food, and no backpack. She was certainly unprepared to walk 16 miles in the afternoon heat.

Another interesting day on the Camino!