Soto del Barco → Soto de Luiña → Queruás → Navia → Tapia de Casareigo
Days 27-30
This post is dedicated to the rocks and stones I have stepped on, stood on to contemplate my next move, and relied on to get through the mud on the Camino the last few days. Thank you for being in the right place at the right time. I appreciate you <3
Soto del Barco to Soto de Luiña
I woke up in my version of a fancy hotel room and didn’t want to get out of bed. The bed was next to these big old fashioned wooden windows and looked out to the mountains (last night at least). This morning it was cold and foggy. I couldn’t tell if it was misting or just really foggy. I eventually packed up and headed out for the day. I didn’t feel too pressed for time because the distance was a little less than 20km–about 12 miles today.
I’d prepped, for what I thought the weather was, with my windbreaker, hat, and rain cover for my pack, but it was quickly clear that it was raining. It was such a light rain and kind of sunny that I thought I could get away with not wearing my poncho, but it was heavy enough that I was soaked very quickly without my poncho.
My poncho is great for the rain, but it’s not great for the roads. It’s navy blue and the hood blocks my peripheral vision. It’s super hard to look around well for cars. I wasn’t excited about starting the day on the road. I got to a bridge to cross the river, the cars were going so fast, the rain was relentless, and I wasn’t 100% sure I was going the right way. Type 2 fun?
Confirmed by a yellow shell up ahead, I quickly finished the road section and hopped on the trail through the woods. I got to another town and ran into my friend! She recognized me even with my poncho covering everything but my feet. We continued on together for the rest of this gloomy day <3
We alternated between short road sections and longer trail sections–the trails getting muddier and muddier as we went on. After a while, we stopped talking and shared only occasional sighs after big sections of mud and rocks. She taught me some curse words in German today too.
Every now and then we’d see a cute animal, pretty view–mostly of bright green trees and fog, and quick glimpses of the ocean. The day felt long and hilly. My feet were soaked and muddy, everything felt damp even with my poncho (mostly from sweating on the hills), and I was ready to be finished.
My toes squished muddy water in my shoes with every step I took and I’d decided I’d be booking a hotel this evening. I’d originally planned to stay at the municipal albergue that was an old school house, but the idea of all of the wet hikers + their gear tonight didn’t sound appealing. Once I was thoroughly soaked and stepped in a puddle that splashed mud up to my chin, I knew I wanted my own space for the evening. That’s the perk of the Camino–I can switch up where I stay and how cheap/communal I want to travel pretty easily.
After what felt like the longest, muddiest, most extreme downhill hike of my life–we arrived in Soto de Luiña. We wandered into a restaurant that had other hikers and ordered burgers and slices of cake. The burger even had arugula on it! Well deserved after this day.
Now that I’m dry and warm, I can say that the day really wasn’t that bad, but I was going through it at the time <3 I feel like the Camino app I have will sometimes be dramatic about steep inclines that aren’t that bad, but then describe today as “some ups and downs.” Maybe the rain made it worse, but that’s not how I would have described it.
Now I’m watching the sun shower (the rain is still doing the light misting but really actually heavy rain-thing, but the sun is peaking through the clouds) outside my window. My shoes are airing out on the small balcony and I’m doing HR modules for job on-boarding. Overall 6/10 day, but I’m still on the Camino, and I know I’ll miss it when I’m not.
Soto de Luiña to Querúas
I woke up at 5am nauseous, went to the bathroom, and threw up. I went back to sleep and when my alarm went off at 7am, I felt fine. I almost felt like I’d dreamed it. My hotel included breakfast this morning, so I got dressed and went downstairs–a little nervous to eat. I had orange juice, a coffee, toast, strawberry yogurt (Greek yogurt! I’m currently working on desensitizing myself to permanently add to my food list), and half a hard boiled egg. Decent round-up. I was disappointed that I was a bit afraid to go too hard on the free breakfast and fuel up for the day.
I could see the Camino from my window and already saw hikers heading out for the day, it was 8am at this point. The mini Body Glide I brought with me–purchased in an REI in Atlanta in 2021–is on its last legs. It can no longer roll on itself, so I’ve been using a Q-tip the last few mornings to spread some of this lovely chafe preventer between my toes.
Hydrangeas are just starting to bloom here. I’ve seen some deep pink and purple ones, colors I feel like I’ve never seen in the US. Most of the hydrangea bushes are still just leaves with small buds, they’re just waiting to start blooming any day now.
My shoes were dry from yesterday, but still quite muddy. I set off for the day around 8:30am and it was chilly. I started with my jacket on (always a mistake for me) and took it off in about 10 minutes after the first climb out of town. Today (and yesterday) were HILLY. Consistent ups or downs the whole day, no real flats. The weather was lovely and sunny, but there were still huge mud patches on the trail. I was almost glad to get to a road crossing by the end of the day because the mud was just constant.
I love getting to these little signs on trail that show you how far the next town or Santiago are. This is the first one I’ve seen with Fisterre, where I plan to finish!
The sea was coming into view every now and again. Today was a lot of crossing through small towns with muddy roads connecting them. My favorite part about going through the pueblos are the dogs and houses.
We had a few minor water crossings today. I walked across fallen logs and rocks mostly, but lots of people took off their shoes to wade through or sacrificed their feet. I was so grateful for rocks today, honestly. I really kept thinking that: “thank you rock for being here between these mud patches.” For the first time, it was nicer being on the trails with rocks <3 My shoes would have been so much more wet and muddy without them. Don’t forget to thank the rocks for their service.
I don’t know what these bright pink flowers are, but they’re everywhere lately and I love them. I love watching bees disappear inside the petals.
The ferns have also been a constant lately. They are so lush and just line almost all the sides of the trails through the woods.
I popped out (after a crazy mud patch) at this beautiful view with turquoise water. I love when the ocean does something new here. I’ve basically followed the coast since Spain’s border with France, and I’ve been amazed at how the ocean, beaches, and cliffsides can look so different along the same coast.
Don’t mind my finger in this pic.
I saw some more baby animals today. A spotted foal and a kitten! There have been so many cats out and about lately. I like that they will either run away, walk up to you and meow, or jump high on a perch to walk you pass by. I have also seen a ton of lizards around these days. When I hear a scuffle in the grass next to me, it’s usually a lizard. I have seen a few small snakes, but nothing crazy. It is funny though–a lot of the European hikers I’ve talked to have never seen a snake, ever in their lives.
I booked it to the albergue I’m staying in tonight to find that it didn’t open until 4pm (fair), but sometimes they’re open as early as 1:30pm. I sat outside and chatted with a bikepacker from Jersey (the island) for a while. She was doing a section from Bilbao to Santiago and I was amazed at how many more kilometers she could cover in a day than I could on foot.
Slowly more hikers showed up and we had a half full bunk room for the evening. The albergue was quite comfortable and well set-up. They even had a laundry room with a washer AND a dryer. I had a great night of sleep (despite the obligatory snorer) and woke up at 7am the next morning ready to go.
Querás to Navia
The albergue included breakfast (OJ, coffee, toast) starting at 7:30am and we hit the trail by 8am. It was a beautiful morning, a bit chilly and overcast (I’ve realized that’s my favorite hiking weather), and we started out leaving down on a flat paved trail.
We were hoping that there’d be less mud than the past 3 days of hiking and got our wish. There were still plenty of muddy patches, but it wasn’t an endless mud-sea trail today. We arrived quickly to Luarca which was a super cute town. The Camino approached from the top, so we had a beautiful view from above.
We saw a bakery and popped in for a treat. I got a napolitana and a cookie that looked like a sugar cookie (my fav) to try. It ended up being an almond cookie, but it was perfectly underdone (dough-y), crunchy on the edges, and chewy in the middle. 10/10 I should’ve bought more to have for the day.
My friend I’ve been hiking with the past few days opted to take the bus the rest of the way (we’d already done 20km today), but our destination was 33km away. It has been nice to spend the morning and the past few days hiking with her and reflecting on other hiking companions on the trail. I feel like she aligns hiking styles with me the best so far. Early (but not too early) starts, faster pace, very few breaks, arrive to town early in the afternoon and relax into the evening.
Eating my napolitana while I walk.
I had a big blister between my pinky and ring toes after walking in wet shoes the past few days. Last night, I stepped off the curb strangely and I accidentally squished my toes together and popped my blister (I really don’t like to pop blisters). I was concerned about it today because it is in a weird spot, but it did well for about 30km. The last 3km I was hurting, so I switched to my Tevas and strutted into town with my hot pink platform sandals on to finish this 20-mile day.
These past few days I’ve really felt like I’m truly hiking. About 2 weeks ago I feel like there was a slump of flat trails and greenways which was fine, but I feel like I’m really working for it again. It’s hard when I’m hiking, but as soon as I get to the top of a hill or feel a breeze I feel relief and think, “that wasn’t that bad.”
Navia to Tapia de Casariego
Today the ocean and the sky were one continuous blue abyss to look out into. I’ve been choosing the coastal route options whenever possible on the Camino and am hardly ever disappointed. What I’m loving about the Norte is that there are both ocean and mountains. I’ve always changed my mind on choosing the beach or mountains as options for personality tests or for either-or games, but here on the Norte, you really can have both <3
I promise the ocean is also in this picture.
I slept in at my hotel in Navia (until 8:30am) and it felt nice. I’ve been getting up at 6:45/7am the last several days, so it was nice to have a slower morning. I was only going 13 miles today to the last big town in Asturias: Tapia de Casariego.
The hike started how has been typical for the Camino, a big climb out of town. Even though I didn’t start hiking until 10am, there were tons of other hikers around me on the trail today. I usually like to hike where I can’t see anyone ahead or behind me, so I don’t feel like I have to go a certain pace.
I did eventually hit the sweet spot where I felt alone on the trail again. I stopped to put on some sunscreen and decided to just hike in my tanktop for the rest of the day. I hadn’t done that yet, but it was a hot day and not too far. My backpack rubbed on my shoulders a bit but it was worth it to feel cooler and potentially even out the gnarly farmer’s tan I’m sporting.
I got in a groove and pulled out one of the to-go coffees I bought at the grocery store this morning. I was cruising on the trail drinking my coffee and came upon a huge mud area. I’d been moving fast and felt good going through this without my full attention or trekking poles helping. Big mistake. I stepped completely foot first into a pool of certain cow poop-mud and lifted my foot out to get unstuck only to lose my balance and dip that foot once again into the abyss.
Pre-cow poop mud. The heels have huge holes and the tread is basically gone.
RIP
I wasn’t mad, I was disappointed. It truly was my own fault, I was rushing and got too confident–a lesson I can definitely take back to the real world.
At the first opportunity, I took off my shoes and sprayed my foot down with my water bottle. The big bummer is that this is the foot with the accidental popped blister. My foot looked clean enough and I quarantined my trail runners and socks into a grocery bag and changed into my Tevas.
I passed through a town that had a huge event going on at one of the churches. There was a big stage set-up and tons of people. I walked by and about 10 minutes later I heard concert music and the crowd singing. Not sure what was going on, but it was a vibe and I could hear the music for the next 30 minutes of my walk.
The rest of the hike was fairly uneventful. I soaked in my final moments with the sea. Tomorrow will be the last day I’ll have ocean views until I reach Fisterre 4 days after Santiago. The Camino cuts inland after Ribadeo.
My platform Tevas carried me for the next 9.5 miles of the day <3 Huge shoutout. I am kind of taking this incident as a sign to get new shoes. These Hokas are certainly beat and now with the added taint of cow manure they’re ready to go. I arrive to a big town tomorrow, Ribadeo, so maybe I’ll find a new pair there.
I made it to Tapia de Casariego mid-afternoon and my feet honestly felt fine after walking so far in my Tevas. I gave my shoes a good rinse in the shower and laid them in the sun. There’s a chance they’re fine tomorrow but they smelled so bad. I took a trip to the laundromat and treated myself to a freshly cleaned trail wardrobe. That one sock still doesn’t smell totally great, but it’ll do for now.
The roses outside my hotel were really showing off, so I have to share.
Other Thoughts:
- I’ve noticed a lot of the “stop” signs here literally say “stop” in English. I asked my sister and her boyfriend about it and they said, “imperialismo cultural.” Tea.
- I’ve kind of been on a marshmallow kick lately. I’ve been getting these strawberry flavored ones and feel like they’re the perfect sweet snack I need while walking.
- I’ve been on the Camino for 30 days now. That simultaneously sounds like a long time and a very short time.
- I love that I never know what nationality or what language anyone speaks. An added perk is that I can also sometimes pretend to not really speak English too.
- This sign outside a house I passed says “You will never walk alone” <3
Inspiration Reading
This comes from a book my sister lent me back in December when we were home for Christmas. It was gifted to her by a family friend. It has passages for each day of the year. I started reading them back at the end of December, then continued through January. The book is called Journey to the Heart by: Melody Beattie.
The passages start with the date and an overarching message. May 17th says: “Happiness is within reach.” It then continues with a few paragraphs and ends with a sort of summary-take home message, of which I will share: “What could make you happy? Ask yourself often. Think about your answer. You may well find that the answer is within reach.”
xo
