Foncebadon to Molinaseca
20k/12.5miles
We were both pretty excited about today because we'd be walking through the mountains and also get to see the Cruz de Ferro. The Cruz de Ferro is a big pole with a cross at the top. Many people bring a stone from home to leave on the pile at the bottom of the cross. Unfortunately, we didn't know this custom before we left home. I planned to leave a shell I brought from Belize but realized it had fallen out of my backpack somewhere in the first 20 days of walking. So, we picked up rocks as we walked up the mountain the day before.
The Cruz de Ferro is almost the highest point on the camino (not including the Pyrenes) at an elevation of 1530 meters.
Here's the rock I found in the shape if Mississippi!
Here I am placing the rock at the bottom of the cross as a symbol of the petitions I bring with me on the camino.
Despite the below freezing weather, (see all the frozen puddles on the trail!) it was a gorgeous day!
There comes a point in one's life when you are excited to see a pit toilet. Sadly, I'm at that point.
Amen! Although.. there's no way I'm running!
Here's a little stand with some fruit and a donation box :) Emily and I both got a pear and they were quite delicious! Things like this can really make a pilgrim's day. Some nice person collects apples and pears from their trees and sets them out with a few bottles of water on the trail for the pilgrims, very cool.
And then came the downhill... it was steep and really rocky. Not as fun as you might initially think the downhill part would be.
Our lunch stop is when Emily discovered that her chocolate was melted. So of course she needed to finish it all right then; you can't waste chocolate!!
More rocks going down. Actually this was like one big rock that we were going down.
Just loving the sunshine and the mountains!
Entering Molinaseca.
By the time we got there my feet and ankles hurt so bad from that downhill rocky trail for most of the day. I'm so glad we planned a relatively short day! Funny, I never thought I'd prefer uphill to downhill! But I do. It's all about the feet. I've heard people say, "if you're feet are happy the rest of you'd body will be, too" and I've always agreed, but this trip has given the saying whole new meaning. It's more like, "only your feet matter, who cares about anything else!" Haha
We met up with Sarah at the end of the day again today. Had a hamburger fur dinner, which was a goif change. The man that owned the little restaurant/shop was really friendly and welcoming. He gave us pins and a stamp for our book. The stamp is a picture if his grandfather. Also he asked if I was from Germany, which I thought was pretty cool!
Today I learned that sometimes uphill is easier than downhill.
I'm thankful for the beautiful weather! What a gorgeous day of hiking we had and most importantly I'm thankful that this is day 22. You know what that means?! ONLY 10 DAYS LEFT!!!