Day 12 (7 April) — Into the Mountains — 13 Miles

The day started somewhat cold and sunny. As Astorga was waking up, I passed some workers draping a stole across the cross that stands in the middle of the plaza mayor. Santa Semana (Holy Week) will be upon us in six days.

Every mile has a touch of uniqueness as I have said before. Here is the frame of a motorcycle that I assume was placed in someone’s memory. “Live a Great Story,” the label says. I hope that person had one and we have too.

Off and on, I have presented interesting signs along the Camino. Two of the four below are what one would expect whereas I don’t get the man pushing up one side of the archway or the die at the beginning of path into Santa Catalina de Somoza. Perhaps they are objects d’art.

We have left farmland behind in favor of pastures and cows. What I did not expect were the teepees behind the cows near the village of El Ganso. There were no signs advertising why they were there. No one was around to ask. Imagine how I would ask a Spaniard if there were — a sure skit for Saturday Night Live.

Throughout the day, I saw only 30 or so pilgrims including a priest from the Ukraine. He was as charitable as one could be about ….. We kept that part of the conversation short. It seems that early Spring is a good time to walk the Camino at least so far along this route. I’ll report numbers if they change dramatically as I am expecting starting in Sarria.

I reached Rabanal del Camino, my destination by 2:15. RDC is a quaint village with many small albergue, hostels, and hotels. I made a visit to the church that was on the main road.

I was fortunate to have another nice room at La Posada de Gaspar that included a large balcony with a clothes drying stand. I took advantage of the stand and the warm sun to do serious laundry. I enjoyed some liquid bread and potato chips while my clothes were drying.

Dinner was simple but very good. In my book, any meal with beans gets bonus points. I had beans (alubia) in a bacalao based soup, red peppers stuffed with bacalao puree, and cheese cake.The beans made the meal.

I was satisfied but tired. Because RDC is small, I had seen the highlights on my walk through the village so I went back to my room. Time for an early bedtime. Twenty miles tomorrow to Ponferrada. We will pass the Cruz Ferro, the main cross on the Camino which is near the highest elevation point of the Camino (1532 meters, 5026 feet), higher than cresting the Napoleon route over the Pyrenees (1429 meters, 4688 feet).

Time to sleep as the sun set at 8:45.