Day 35 Sarria to Portomarin

13,7 miles. Remember all those big hills you have been seeing in the photos? Today, I walked up, across, and down each one. At the base of each is a little stream, with someway to cross over it. In some areas, the stream runs straight down the trail; in one of the photos, the water is crossing over the large stone blocks on the right, then coursing down the cobblestones on the left. The day was generally overcast, cool, with light rain and occasional heavy showers. The poncho was used again.

A continuing surprise is how the Camino runs right through someone's  property. You can look right into the barns as the cows are milked, share the narrow way with farm equipment, and pass between the house and garage. 

I met a group of high school kids from Vermont; they started in O'Cebreiro and will take just one week to finish and return to school. There is another group with large suitcases staying in my little hotel tonight. The sheer number of pilgrims since Sarria is easily 10X what there was before. However, one of the guiding principles of the walk, is we each walk our own Camino and do what is necessary to achieve our personal goals.

The day begins and ends with steps; first at the base of the old town in Sarria, ending with the big staircase in Portomarin. The town was moved up the hill to make room for a large dam and reservoir in 1962. The staircase was part of the medieval bridge across the river; the original bridge was Roman.

I have been meeting many people who are fast tracking this walk, intentionally walking 18 to 25 miles a day. A middle aged British man planned to do the walk in 29 days vs the 33 in the book; he is walking on, only has 3 more days to cover about 60 miles, receive his Compostela, fly out on Sunday, and be at work Monday. Yowza! Am glad I can take what time I need to get the job done. The 100 km monument was passed today, that means 62 miles at that point to Santiago. Only a few more days ........