Day 8 - Las Herrerías to Triacastela

26 September 2018

18.5 miles in 8 hours 3 minutes (including breaks)

We climbed our way over the mountains and into the region of Galicia. This was a very long walk day with an ascent of 3,000 feet in the first 5 miles and then a descent of 3,000 feet over the next 13. We sent our packs ahead so we would be lighter on the trail.

Galicia is a region of Spain with its own language and culture. They speak Gallego, a mixture of both Spanish and Portugues. The terrain is green with mountains and lush farmland. All the green comes at a price - it rains in Galicia more than any other area of Spain. We cross our fingers that the next 10 days we have left in Spain will be dry.

  

Starting off from our hotel before daybreak. It is getting chilly at this altitude. 

Sandy was bundled up for the cold as we left Las Herrerias.

Daybreak over Galicia

 

Morning sunshine showed our shadows across a very rough trail as we climbed for the first 2 hours.

 

We looked back into the valley we were leaving and saw how much we had climbed.

 

Sandy and I were thankful for the trekking poles that helped us over this very rough trail.

We finally reached the summit and took a moment to appreciate all the greenery.

 

Forests and farmlands stretched across the mountains at this border into Galicia.

 

This sign proclaims the entry into Galicia. Residents of this region claim they are Galician first and Spanish second.

 

The trails through the mountains immediately improved once we entered Galicia. The regional government invests heavily to attract the pilgrims into this region.

Galicia has carefully surveyed the distances to Santiago de Compostela and erected these distance indicators every few kilometers to indicate which way to go and how much distance remains. The first of these we saw said 160 kms (around 100 miles). Hooray, we are now over halfway there from Leon.

  

At the summit, we entered the tiny village of O Cebreiro to warm up, rest a bit, and have some breakfast after 2 hard hours of hiking.

 

We each ordered the Spanish tortilla (which is actually an egg and potato quiche), bread, and hot chocolate. We were both stuffed, but the breakfast gave us the energy to move on. 

The wind blows constantly at the mountain top moving into Galicia. Sandy had to hold her hat on, just like the pilgrim statue.

 

Trails downward from O Cebreiro were green and lush. We walked downhill for 13 miles to reach our destination at Triacastela.

  

Ferns grow freely in this wet mountain environment.

 

Entryway to an ancient rock church we passed.

The further we walked, the greener it seemed to get.

And what would Spain be like without all the bulls for the bullfights!

We passed one of these unique Galician "hórreo" or food storage houses. They built them on elevated stone posts as a protective measure against vermin.

Rats and mice could not get into the hórreos and spoil the food because they couldn't get over the cap at the top of the stone post. Pretty ingenious, no?

As we arrived in our destination city of Triacastela, we noticed that all the homes were made out of rocks.

We checked into our hotel and found that it was a former rock home that had been remodeled into a very comfy place. We were glad we got to stay in such a historic and yet comfortable hotel.

With over 100 miles behind us since leaving León, we are now well along on our journey.

Progress Map