On day six, I remember waking up feeling beaten. My ankle was beyond sore and the usual aches and pains of hiking had started to hit me. I didnt want to hike. My Mom seemed bubbly and, though I was not in the mood, I followed her lead and got ready. It was the coldest morning yet but we moved fast to warm up. The trail took us through beautiful pine and eucalyptus forests before climbing up to a small stone chapel high up on a hill. As we ventured down, we ran into some pilgrim friends and chatted with them. Before long we were stopped by a large group of chattering women with one man who, for some reason, was zig zagging across the whole trail, effectively blocking anyone from passing. After taking their photo, we had to come up with a game plan for getting around Mr. Zig zag. My pilgrim friend from Israel went first and tried unsuccessfully to slip by him. Finally we reached a small cafe on the side of the trail and everybody stopped. My Mom and I were amazed that we had already made it halfway. We celebrated with coffees and getting to know some of the other pilgrims.
We moved on and again had to navigate past Mr. Zig zag and his ladies. Then came a huge climb where my Mom and I began to count our steps hoping it would only take 20 more or 10 more to the top. We had made it eleven miles already and our bodies were feeling it. We jumped at the first chance to sit down at a cafe that looked not so nice but had chairs. We ordered lunch to share and were amazed by how delicious it was. Melty croquettes, a large omelette with potatoes, peppers, and onions, and fresh baked bread. I felt like I needed to be rolled out of there. Before we got up to leave we heard some chatter and then a loud "halloooooo." We turned to see the ladies with Mr. Zig zag walking towards us from across the street. They surrounded us as they took photos with all their phones of us sitting at our table. And then, just as suddenly as they had appeared, they were gone. We would never see the ladies again but we'd always have the awkward picture.
We entered in to another pine forest and had the last climb of our day. The food sat in our stomachs making it hard to exert any energy. We ran into some friends who had decided to nap next to the trail. I envied them but knew my Mom would never go for "hey why don't we lay on the ground and try to fall asleep?" The trail popped out at the road and the thought of the unshaded pavement made my very full stomach turn. The last two miles were grueling. We weren't sure we would be able to make it but I knew we had no choice. My ankle was killing me but my Mom's knee was worse and I felt I had to be strong to get her through the last bit. We walked down into a tiny village and immediately went to the place I had emailed about a room the night before. Unfortunately, they had given away all of their private rooms. They had bunk beds available but I knew that wouldn't fly. She offered to give us an entire bunk room to ourselves so we accepted, with no better options. I told my Mom we had an eight bedroom suite. She was a really good sport with the paper sheets and sharing a shower shammie. We ate pizza and crashed on our bunks.
Stats
A Fonsagrada- O Cadavo
Miles: 15.6
Steps: 38,779
# of shower shammies: 1