Day 34: Parga to Sobrado

October 15, 2022. A big step closer over tiring territory

We awoke early at our hostel in the Natural park that we shared with albergue guests, but we were grateful for a good night’s sleep in a private room. After a very light breakfast we decided not to hit up a local bar/restaurant and get started in the dark. Our hope was to get miles in before the predicted rain began to fall. We headed out into the abandoned small town streets with the use of a headlamp. Dogs barked as we approached, but just enough to show they were doing their jobs. Soon we were out in the agicultural lands on the high plateau, at about 400 meters elevation. We noticed smooth stones that looked like they had been polished by glaciers.

We walked for two hours through the forest and some very lightly used grazing land. We were promised that there would be nothing for 20 km and to carry everything with us. But surprisingly, at 8 km, we came across a nice bar/restaurant, where we ordered Spanish tortilla and cafe con leche. Now we had a very substantial boost to start our day and get through the remaining 12 km without much services.

Back on the trail we began to climb up to a ridge with many windmills spaced along the ridge, The sound of the wind on the rotor blades was surprisingly loud and enjoyable.

After reaching the ridge at 623 meters elevation, the land have way to a very boring stretch of flat grazing and wheat growing that stretched on for miles of straight highway. There was a cold wind in our face, but the rain held off. The boring straight path seemed to tire us more quickly, so at 16 km we stopped for a rest on a slab of cement post that had been tipped over. We saw other hikers ahead and behind us. We pressed on. Finally the road began to curve and come to little villages. From my map I could see we only had 2 more km to get into As Cruces, so we put our heads down and plowed on despite foot and hip pain caused by the hard pavement.

At As Cruces, I noted a restaurant on the map, Meson Manolo, and we stopped in. It was a local hangout that was busy on a Saturday at lunch time. We stepped into the restaurant portion and ordered the menu of the day. I had boiled peas with bacon followed by what appeared to be pot roast but was called ”carne asada”. The Spanish names do not match up with names from Latin America so I’m often surprised. This was accompanied by red wine and flan.

After the dinner we were rested and satisfied, and felt energetic to get the final 4.6 km into town to find our Pension, A Sacra. We were glad to have the 25 km done on a day promised to be rainy, but only was misty at times. Now our final days will all be 22 km or less. It feels like a relief 60 km to go.