Castro to A Fonsagrada 29.6 km

And then bus for two stages to Lugo 

I don’t seem to have made many notes today – I’ll put it down to all the huffing and puffing it took to walk up the hills, leaving me too breathless to dictate. 

We say a fond farewell to our fellow pilgrims whom we have seen along the way but are unlikely to see again and set off in thick fog. Once we pass by the few houses that make up this hamlet, we’re on a dirt track. 

We pass woodland that has also been affected by fires and almost entirely the firs have been decimated –  the oaks and beech remain fairly healthy. The smell of burning is quite strong though I imagine it’s some time since the fire swept through.

The fog lifts after a while and the sun comes up over the hillside.  There’s no wind and I’m already glowing.

We’re on and off road for a while but mostly off and then we have a steep climb up a narrow track towards the wind turbines. 

We’ve been walking above the cloud for most of the day, as we climb higher and higher towards the ridge where the turbines are slowly turning the views are just fabulous. 

The sun has become very warm and it’s shining on all the dewdrops making them sparkle.  The valleys below are completely filled with cloud with the effect of making them look like a series of lakes. The sight is just truly stunning.

There’s been a fair amount of climbing this morning and a fair amount of glowing to my forehead.

We finally reach the crest of the hill at 1100 meters and are walking along a comfortable smooth dirt track. Whilst the walking is easy I up my pace as much as I can as we are working to a deadline today.  We are aiming to catch the 14:00 bus from A Fonsagrada to Lugo, so missing two stages, and then we will continue as originally planned to Santiago.

We cross the border separating Asturias from Galicia – literally a line in the sand. 

We make our first (and only) stop at a bar at 9km – it’s closed but we make use of their benches and eat our snacks in the sunshine. 

The rest of the walk is on really good paths, some alongside roads but mostly through woodland.  The last stretch is on a ridiculously steep hill – I’m not quite sure how I made it, but I’m here to tell the tale. 

We arrived in good time for the bus and are staying at the Xunta albergue in Lugo where we’re delighted to see several pilgrims we met on day one.