Borres to Berducedo 25.6 km

The albergue in Borres really isn’t geared towards an efficient departure – there being just a tiny lobby outside the dormitory where several pilgrims had claimed the space to pack their goods whilst the rest of us fumbled in the dark in the dorm until it seemed everybody was awake and we put on the lights. 

The main problem is with the bathroom facilities. There are two spaces that contain toilet, basin and shower designated male and female. And when they are in use, all facilities are denied to every one else. So that if someone (no one in particular 😠) decides to take a lengthy ablution in the morning, no one else can use the toilet, which is really annoying. And it just so happens that the person making it so annoying is the same person that’s made several things annoying over the last couple of days.

I’m up and ready by 07:00 and Mikey is in a cooperative frame of mind when I rouse him and we walk out by 07:30 when it is still quite dark. Clouds in the distance indicate that there is going to be a stunning sunrise.

We are soon on a track – very steep loose stony/rocky track which eventually levels for awhile. We need to make the most of it because we’re not going to get much level walking on this stage. 

We soon come to the point where we decide which route to take – Hospitales for us – up and over the mountain.

There’s no morning fog for us on this occasion (as I  have experienced before) and once it gets light the sky is blue and the clouds are wispy and there’s absolutely no wind for the time being. The path has become soft dirt – very comfortable to walk on, with no loose stones – but I don’t think that’s going to last very long.

There have been wild fires in all directions – the pine trees are decimated and are unlikely to regenerate. 

As we round a bend on a very steep track, we can suddenly see below us cloud or fog sitting in some valleys and it’s just like looking down upon some lakes. It’s very very beautiful.

We reach just over 1,000 m at the peak of our first climb and then we are introduced to a brand-new valley to the other side of the path. 

We have a short spell on level path and then downhill which is a lovely relief after the climbing but it doesn’t last long before we are rising again. We pass valley after valley, all stunningly beautiful. There are horses aplenty and many groups of cows, all unrestrained by any fencing and all totally unbothered by the passing pilgrims. 

I’ve long ago stripped off to my T-shirt and there’s a lovely cooling breeze which is a relief because there are no clouds to shade us from the glorious bright sunshine. The forecast was correct – it’s a wonderful day to climb over a mountain.

Every valley we pass is truly stunning. We spend some time talking to a guy who comes from the opposite direction.  He started out from Seville on the Via de la Plata, then walked from Santiago de Compostela to Finisterre where he volunteered as a hospitalero in an albergue for a couple of weeks and is now walking the Primitivo in reverse, wild camping along the way. A very interesting  guy. 

We reach a peak of over 1,200 m. Then there are lots of fairly strenuous ups and downs until we come to one extremely steep downhill made up entirely of loose stone just waiting for me to lose concentration so that I slip and sprain an ankle. I take it very slowly indeed and manage not to do any damage. 

As the day progresses it gets really rather hot so it’s with great relief that we walk in some shady woodland for a while. A few kms out from our end point we both fail to see a direction and find ourselves way off track. We manage a work around through on overgrown gorse and bramble track and eventually emerge into our rightful path – having extended our already challenging stage by a little under a kilometre. 

We’ve both run out of water towards the end of the stage when I notice a guy sitting in his garden. I ask if he might fill a bottle with water and although he doesn’t exactly look happy to help us, he does so without complaint, for which we are very grateful. 

We finally arrive at Berducedo shortly after 17:00, rather hot and weary. We are staying at the albergue Camino Primitivo, excellent facilities, but rather costly at €20 (it was €12 in 2017!)