Rabanal Del Camino to Molinaseca

What beautiful weather we had today for our 26.5 KM hike over the mountains (600 meters ascent). We started out from Rabanal as day light was breaking at 8:10 am with only David carrying a pack. I am still hobbling about and when I add the weight of the pack to my poor left foot not much progess is made.

Within 7 KM we climbed 400 meters, which actually at the beginning of the day was not too bad. We had a coffee and tea at Foncebadon. While sitting there some perigrinos went by on horse back. We could tell they did not look like they could ride by the way they held onto the pummel! Anyway it looks those horses came all the way here based on the droppings on the trail. One way to do this very picturesque stage.
Another way is to be a black lab dog on a small platform on the back of a bike. We saw the lab at dinner tonight and tales of him have spread along the Camino. Also there is a French woman walking since July 16th with her little Tesian (sp ?) dog. The dog is carried infront of Fabian along with her own camelback hose. Fabian sends her pack ahead and carries the dog and a day pack! Dog weighs 5 Kilos. The dog does walk sometimes as well as the lab running by the bike.

At the high point of our walk today was the Cruz de Ferro which is 1,504 meters above sea level and the highest point of the Camino. There is a simple iron cross at the top of a pole and perigrinos have been bringing rocks and other mementos and tokens of love and blessings. It is an interesting monument to a collective journey. We left the Tau wood cross that the nuns of the Convent de Santa Clara had made in recognition of Robin (my Mother) and Athena who are watching over us, for our families and particularly our elderly and their caregivers. Prior to August there were monks in Rabanal who at the mass would bless the items that were going to be left at this spot. Apparantly the mass also included memorable gregorian chants. When I had finally dragged myself out of bed yesterday late afternoon to find out about mass I learned there was no mass. The Monks had been thrown out by the local townspeople over the ownership of the church. So Rabanal no longer meets the spiritual needs of the perigrinos, which is a shame as it is a lovely old town.

We passed through several old towns that have come back to life with the increased traffic on the Camino.
We had lunch around 2 pm in Acebo along with a walking tour bus of 29 Austrailians and 1 from (71 year old) lady from Barbados. This group hiked down 8 KM and then had lunch and then got back on their big bus and drove off. The tour company was from Canada and related to teachers. They made an interesting fashion statement in their white shirts, scarfs and pearl earings. I am so glad I have my scarf and David his ascot for our evening (thank you Kay for that tip). I have also decided that kakhi is the best color to wear on the Camino as the dirt doesn't show. Wearing white is a dead give away that you are not walking the Way!

We arrived in town at 6pm and then were scrambling to get our laundry done- it is now hanging all over the room to dry. We each have a new blister to deal with because we did not stop the last 2 hours to cool our feet. We knew we should have stopped!
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