Day 28  Foncebadón to Molinaseca, Spain    October 19, 2022

I am so glad I made the extra effort yesterday to walk to Foncebadón.  I had a good sleep and was on the road by 7:30.  Rain was forecast to begin at 10 AM so I wanted to get as far into my walk as possible before that happened.  I quit in Molinaseca which made for a 19.2 km day rather than going on to Ponferrada because I was soaking wet.  Gortex can only do so much.

Try as I might, I could not come up with an intention. Maybe I am intentioned out? I will try again tomorrow. The first thing to see on this route is Cruz de Ferro-

It is a tall pole high on a hill. One is supposed to leave a stone from home which represents one’s problems. I did not bring a stone from home and as I thought about it I didn’t have any problems to leave high on that hill anyway. 

Continuing on-

The walk was pleasant enough but the clouds were menacing and the wind was howling.

I came to Manjarin where a kook named Tómas lives in the summer.  He claims to be the last of the Knights Templar who were a Catholic military order, one of the most wealthy and popular of the western Christian orders. They were founded in 1118 in Jerusalem and ceased operations in 1312. Their job was to protect the Christian pilgrims in Palestine but they also protected the pilgrims walking to Santiago.  There were 15,000 to 20,000 members at its peak.  They were officially endorsed by the Roman Catholic Church and they became a favourite charity throughout Christendom. Templar knights wore white mantels with a red cross and they were the most skilled fighting units of the Crusades-

Inside his house-

Outside at the entrance-

Trinkets for sale-

There is an albergue but there is no electricity or running water. Originally when I was planning my schedule I had thought of staying here based on kilometres but when I learned about this today I was very glad I did not!

Carrying on-

By this time, the rain really started falling and the wind was driving it horizontally. My backpack cover came loose on the bottom and made a big flapping noise so I grabbed it and saved it from flying off to France. I got to El Acebo de San Miguel where there was an albergue waiting for cold drenched pilgrims. They had great food and music and the place is owned by a Texan. More and more pilgrims kept coming in seeking shelter. Eventually the rain let up so I was able to carry on.  The town is very pretty –

The wind let up and the rain backed off until it was just a fine drizzle-

At the last part of the trail, a few of us kept on the highway to avoid steep downhill slippery rocks.  It was 4 km of switchbacks all downhill so it was easy walking and I even jogged part of it. Then the skies opened for about three minutes and it poured just like a heavy shower in the bathtub. Every square inch of me was soaked but I wasn’t tired and wanted to carry on to the next town but decided to get dry and hope for sunny skies tomorrow.

One crosses the Meruolo River over a 7 arched bridge to get into Molinaseca-

San Nicolas church-

 Albergue Santiago  is very nice-

Their English translation isn’t so good-

I’ve dried my clothes and hope my shoes and backpack also dry overnight.  The room is warm and I have a fuzzy blanket!  

Restaurants don’t open until 7 pm and I don’t like to eat that late but I did have chile rellenos which are chile stuffed with, this time, mashed potatoes and covered in tomato sauce. They were very good –

I’m getting closer-