Day 21: The Fog in Foncebadón
I started early: woke up at 5:30am (once again i couldn't sleep) & was out the door by 6 am. Walking in the dark is a fairly good motivator and by studying the road the day before, I was fairly confident in the direction I was going. Unfortunately, today was one of wind and cold and rain - not so bad as the one on the 1st of May, but enough drizzling to keep the waterproof stuff on for the whole day.
Moving into la Cordillera Cantábrica the flats of the meseta end, and it was up, up, up towards the famous eerie Foncebadón (read Shirley Maclaine or Paulo Cohelo.) I had originally planned to stay there, but the distance was too short [for what I had walked so far]. It was miserable both in weather & in my experience at the local bar; a horrible bus load of camino tourists - the kind that gets driven from point to point while a van takes their luggage/backpacks, & they walk a small amount to the point of interest. By the time I finished my café con leche in the bar, all I wanted to do was move on.
I had a moment at the Cruz de Ferro, the place where the pilgrim ritual is to deposit a stone from home or along the way at the base. Some have notes, some leave charms or little Elvises even (Remo - you have a good picture of this!). After a good couple of hours walking uphill, I saw the cross & broke down in sobs; it was an important moment to me as I dropped off the rocks I carried from home. Its not the most extravagant looking monument, but the symbolism and ritual are not lost...
After this I booted it down hill for the next 4 hours all the way into Molinaseca. Got in pretty late, so washing clothes in the machine was a risk. Everthing smells super nice, but NOTHING is dry. Oh well...
uh oh, 10:43pm now. No wonder the snoring is in full force. Sigh. Ipod time.
