Negreira to Olveiroa

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Negreira to Olveiroa, Raining for much of 33 kilometers    Walking Day #33

Today it rained. When I awoke, I heard birds chirping, and that almost always means that it is not raining. And it was not. After breakfast, I met Ben from Taiwan at the front lobby of the hotel, and he said it was raining, and a look outside confirmed that between the time I went upstairs to get my pack, jacket, and hiking poles, it had started raining. So on with the poncho, the gaiters, and the cowboy-looking hat that keeps the rain off my head and because of its large brim, the rain out of my eyes. It rained fairly steadily for the next three hours, and then off and on throughout the afternoon. My poncho worked again, keeping me dry inside.

Leaving the town of Negreira, we pass under the city arch, and are about to head up the hill seen in the background. Today seemed like we were going up hill far more than downhill, it was a very tiring day physically.

Going up the first hill, the path was rocky and uneven. This is very common on paths in the forests (and other places, too ... it is very common). We were very quickly out of the town and into the forest, away from the sounds of towns and traffic, alone in the forest with the sound of the rain. 

This part and much of the forest path today had enough gravel to facilitate good drainage, so there were very few muddy places in the forest today, even though it was raining fairly steadily.

One of the Camino way markers along the path today. These markers have been very consistent since leaving Santiago de Compostela. Someone in this part of Galicia decided to be very consistent with the shell graphic on the Camino way marker monuments. When the convergence point of the lines are to represent Santiago de Compostela, then the direction to Finisterre is away from Santiago, and in the direction of the opening lines. These in this part of Galicia are very consistently made this way. And because of the consistency, when there is only a shell graphic without the arrow, we know which way to go.

We are still in the forest, and it is very beautiful at every turn. At times, the path is through a very dense part of the forest, and the path is almost like a cave in the trees. At other times, we are in partial clearing, like this one.

Or this clearing in the forest. The only problem with the clearings is that denser parts of the forest keep the rain off us, and in the clearings we get wet.

Part of the path is beside farmlands, a typical sight on the Camino.

And in this area, reforestation has taking place after forest fires several years ago. The trees here are all about the same age, and and the undergrowth thin.

My Danish friend Kenneth with whom I walked the last third of yesterday, and off and on today with Ben from Taiwan.

And here is Ben from Taiwan. We are waiting for the transport to our hotel which is several kilometers off the Camino, and Ben is seriously contemplating his post-walk Coca-Cola. (I also like a Coke after the walk, but I prefer to wait until after my shower and have the Coke cold with ice.)

In spite of the rain, this was a good day on the Camino Finisterre. Because of the rain, even sharing the walk with others, we were often quiet and deep in our own thoughts. I have been asked what I think about as I walk in quiet, or sometimes alone for hours. The answer is I do not know; thoughts come, thoughts go, and more thoughts come. Sometimes, it is much like a meditation with little thought. I do like the quiet times; they are an integral part of walking the Camino.

I have two more days of walking the Camino de Santiago: first about 20 kilometers to Cee; finally about 14 kilometers from Cee to Finisterre (the end of the earth). then the journey home starts.

Next: Walking to Cee (to see the sea), probably in the rain.