Camino Day 10: Another chapter completed

Redondela to Ponteverde on the Camino Portugués Central Route

Distance walked: 13.7 mi (22.0 km)

Total walked so far: 129.0 mi (207.6 km)

Route taken: Redondela to Ponteverde

200 kilometers! Another milestone in the books. Ok, now on to my notes:

Got some sad news from home last night, and sadder news late tonight. You truly feel far away and isolated at times like that. Helpless. Though I was tired, I had a hard time falling asleep last night but in the end slept a long time. It will be a little later start as a result but that’s ok. Decent chance of rain this afternoon but so it goes. Looking forward to today’s walk of 13+ miles.

It was great for almost two miles. Then I accidentally pulled my backpack’s sternum strap off the rail it’s normally attached to. It’s not meant to come off and it’s really annoying to put back on - particularly without pliers, which I don’t carry. After 30 min of struggling I gave up, made a janky temp repair, and moved on. Shortly thereafter I found a cafe and decided to do a reset and get my late breakfast. A little Spanish tortilla (kinda like a potato omelette) and cafe con leche and I felt better. On we go!

This was one of those days where I didn’t write much in the way of notes when I stopped. I’m not sure why, but so it goes. Summarizing the rest of the walk is straightforward, and is well served by the photos linked in the Route at the top of this post. Two climbs, a mix of small towns, forest, ending with a roadside walk into the city of Pontevedre. It rained the last 1/3 of the walk but never really hard. My shoes were of course thoroughly wet

I worked hard on being present on this walk. I borrowed a technique from meditation, where you acknowledge intrusive thoughts and just let them pass. Here, instead of refocusing on breath, I was trying to use the sound of my footsteps. Being present (sort of) saved me at one point today as well…

I had just overtaken a slower Spanish walker when I realized I was going a bit too fast for the steep pebbly / sandy road I was on. A slow motion series of events took place, of which I was really aware in the moment: my right foot shot back after slipping, and I leaned forward as a reaction, pitching my center of gravity too. I realized I was falling, and elected to fall on my abdomen and forearms. I was totally fine as a result, barring a few small scrapes. It was strange to not be caught off guard and to have some (but not nearly enough) control over what followed.

One thought that frequently got air time today was that I was ending a chapter. I spent most of my walk on the Central Route, after starting on the Litoral, and tomorrow would transition. Next up is a 3-day stint on what’s known as the Variante Espiritual (Spiritual Variant). This link has a great summary.

I’m taking it for a few reasons: primarily, it’s a nice route - often described by pilgrims as their favorite part, I’m ready to walk outaide of these larger cities, and it’s less traveled in also interested in the boat ride at the end which is supposed to be pretty cool. After that I’ve got one more day where I’ll walk into Santiago.

After arriving in Pontevedre, I met up with my Lithuanian friend, Matis. We parted ways eight days prior when he stayed on the coastal path. It was great to see him as well as several others from Casa Fernanda and other points along the Camino. After a quick dinner we had a few beers at two different spots as an early St. Patrick’s Day celebration - on which the two Irish in our group insisted! :)

And so that last bit is why this is posting the next morning as opposed to before bed. While we only had a few beers each, we talked for a while so a later bedtime meant I didn’t have time to write. So it goes! Be well, friends. 🙏