After a hike for Veronica’s birthday on Saturday, and two small walks on Sunday (one w Eugenia, the other w Luz-Dary and Toby,) Stef wanted to do a REALLY long (15 kilometers, full stage of the camino long) on Monday. I foolishly agreed.
OMG, y’all. I know when I’m getting tired on a hike because my boots start slipping. I was slipping 20 minutes in. I saw the words “Llano de Escaleras” on the map at the beginning, and I thought, “ Stairs? Stairs in the mountains?”
There were a lot of these, both up and down. I started feeling lightheaded when I walked them. At first just my legs wobbled, but then it became my whole body.
Stef said something about being careful because the wood on the stairs is sometimes bad, and later he said, “Don’t walk like an elephant!” It took a lot for me not to reply, “ Stef, I am walking in the only way I CAN walk.”
After over 3 hours of walking, we ate the sandwiches we bought. Then began walking the 12 kilometers back to the car.
We were on the road for awhile then got back on the trail. As we were descending, it started to rain, a fine rain that gradually soaked through my shirt. I didn’t have my rain jacket and I didn’t want to put on my hoodie because I wanted it warm and dry when I got into the car.
Stef wasn’t sure of the path; he’d never traveled it before. So we went the wrong way a couple of times. The clouds were obscuring the view below and nobody could get cell reception. We were getting wetter and wetter and colder and colder.
I was really thirsty but I couldn’t stop for water. I would have gotten too far from the others (they were having to wait sometimes as it was) and the only thing keeping me warm was movement. Standing still in the rain just wasn’t a good idea. But I was so desperate I began sucking the water out of my sleeves, which were so sodden, especially around the wrists, that I could do that.
Just like when I was on the Frances outside Grañon, we were not in the red but we were in the yellow. We were cold and wet, unsure of our path, and darkness was coming. I heard Eugenia say something about “la noche.”
Stef wanted to head over a CLIFF ( okay, it wasn’t a cliff but it was a pretty steep drop off) and scramble through the brush to the path we could see below. I said if we are doing that, I’m putting my phone ( dead which is why I don’t have pictures) and glasses ( so covered in rain they were useless) in my pack, and had Eugenia do that for me.
Fortunately Stef decided I wasn’t equal to brush scrambling, which I wasn’t, and finally found a path down. We got to a small village and sheltered in a barn while Eugenia asked for directions. While waiting, the owner of the barn saw us and offered to drive us to our car. Her name was Angela. And she was.
I decided then I REALLY dislike the mountains. As much as I want to see Stef and the others again, it will be awhile and it won’t be as long. I hesitate to say I hate any part of God’s creation, but the mountains come close.
Travels and Adventures with Jane 