Ponferrada 13 miles

We were so excited to wake up early for the sunrise for the famous Cruz de Ferro, the iconic iron cross.

The weather was against us from the get go. We started at 645 am and it was raining and foggy. We did get to the site, about a mile away. It was perfect since only a few people and we could take individual photos.

I was in awe and taken aback when I saw the Cruz de Ferro and walked on the sacred ground from over 2000 years ago. I got a stone a few days ago and painted it and wrote a message. I tossed it in and also made it my JD AND RITA memorial for the day.

All down hill from there. LITERALLY (maybe a few ups). The rain continued and the terrain was very rocky as in slate boulders and loose rock, mud and rain. It was about 7 miles until we hit the first town. Like us, every pilgrim needed a break so the food bars were all mobbed with wet and very muddy patrons.

We continued on and the wet and rocky slate path continued. I am slow and cautious since the slate scares me. I watched a woman fall straight backwards when her legs slipped from under her. I initially thought she hit her head on the boulder but thank goodness it was probably a broken foot or ankle, which can be fixed easier than a head. It was just her and her husband and Kathryn and me, so we called the emergency 112 (same as 911 for us in the states). They would not call the husband back on his phone so we waited about 45 mins to get K’s phone back. Many passer bys. One super nice couple from Houston ran back to last town to try to get help. Some Spanish speaking pilgrims stopped and shortly after we were on our way. We were about 30 mins back on the trail when we saw the ambulance and police driving up the roads. I assume they needed a mountain emergency team to walk in and carry her out since it was not accessible to vehicles.

The rain eased up (not the mud) and we continued the Camino path with rocks but it was much nicer without the rain. After we reached the last town before Ponferrada, we still had 6.4 km to go so we decided to taxi since it was getting late. Our walk was supposed to be about 17 miles.

Ponferrada is very big compared to most towns. In 1178, Templars made Ponferrada a main stop on the Camino to protect and serve pilgrims and the road. In the 13th century they built the massive castle that defines the image of Templar Ponferrada. The castle is called the Castillo de los Templarios. It is immense.

We ate dinner early as usual. And then we walked around the town. We visited the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de la Encina. We went up to the castle but decided not to go in. It was a little chilly and spitting rain.

We heard that today was hard but I give it a very difficult rating and I add the word treacherous with the rain, mud and slick boulders.

We are gearing up for tomorrow and hoping for sunshine.