melaniehyers
Day 7 from Campiello through Hospitales; the booty maker
We began walking earlier than usual this morning. Today is to be the most challenging so far, through the Hospitales.
It’s all uphill. Today we reach gods house.
Throughout the first part of the morning we walked under the shaded canopy of chestnut and oak trees. Along the sides of the path stood tall grasses and wild flowers. The morning dew hung heavy on each blade and petal, bathing us in gentle droplets as we walked along.
The fog of Asturias is well known. This cool green region is a haven during the harsh days of summer when most of Spain is melting.
When we left Valladolid, the meseta, three days ago, Spain entered a heatwave with temperatures well into the 30’s celsius… but Asturias welcomed us with its cooling, refreshing climate, 18 degrees of relief!
However, today, the heatwave hit Asturias. Early morning we were gently bathed in morning dew, and by late morning we were showering in the dripping sweat pouring from our brows.
I turned 50 shades of red, each deeper in color than the next as my body desperately worked at cooling it’s core.
There was little shade. We walked up, and up, and still again up, winding through the tall, steep hills to where the ruins from the 14th and 15th century, of the first “hospitales”, monasteries, stand. Once welcoming pilgrims on their way to Santiago, now only the skeleton of their walls remains.
Today it’s grazing land for cattle and horses.
There is a bear or two that live in the area, wolves and lots of birds! We were accompanied by the serenading of constant birdsong.
With each ascending footstep I tried consoling myself by thinking, “I’m sure there’s shade around the next bend, we’ll stop there and rest, kick off these sweaty socks and cool my fiery skin.”
Bend after bend shade didn’t appear. What did appear were some of the most spectacular views! The endless undulations of dark green hills and valleys, extending out into what appears to be– forever!
Finally, hours into our walk, around a bend there it was, shade! Next to the rubbled ruins of a “hospital” there stood about 8 pines huddled close and creating an oasis of shade.– even in ruins this place continues giving refuge to pilgrims!
We ripped off our packs as we dove head first into the shaded sanctuary.
Socks and shoes flew through the air, landing in the sun to dry out as we remained behind in the shade of god’s living room—
We broke bread, well, it was an orange and some chocolate, and we took worship, that is, we reveled in the 360 degree views of the majestic landscape. Sweet, cool relief!
An hour later we decided it was time to face the heat and the continuing ascent.
With each step up I wondered to myself how many stairs steps would this be?
I mean if I were in a gym I would never dream of setting the workout for, constant-ascent-5-hours-straight, go!
I don’t have much of a butt, it’s kinda a flat thing, but what is there definitely got kicked today!! As a matter of fact, I think I may now have more derriere to actually “kick”– Who needs a stair stepper when there are hills and mountains to climb! This was a booty-maker kinda day!
