Rabanal del Camino to Acebo

Total distance today = 9.9 miles

Total ascent today = 1,968.5 feet

Cumulative distance = 348.3

Today we headed over the mountains. 

Early on our hike, near the village, was a monument and a fuente. 

The overcast skies made the wildflowers really stand out.  Especially the purple ones. Look for them in some of the other pictures. It is past the season for the flowers in the lower elevations, but there are still some in the mountains. Here are couple flowers we haven't seen before. 

It's hard to see in this photo, but this flower is a very light pink. 

A lot of climbing on steep rocky paths today. The overcast skies and altitude kept the temperatures cold for most of the morning. 

A rest hut for poor tired pilgrims with a fuente in front of it. 

This poor pilgrim now has eternal rest.  The inscription says this was her second Camino.  Mmmm think we'll only do it once. 

By late morning the skies were looking ominous. 

And the cows were laying down. We were told that when the cows lay down, then rain is on its way.   We stopped for coffee and hot tea at a "hippie" albergue. It was in a very old, run down house. It reminded me of a camping hut. All very rustic and rudimentary.  While there it began to rain. But it was just a  light drizzle and didn't last long. As we climbed, temps dropped, so we put on our raincoats and headed up the trail. 

This is La Cruz de Ferro - the Iron Cross. It is at the peak of Mt. Irago at 4,934 feet above sea level. It is a simple wooden pole with an iron cross on top. But this is the spot along the Camino the pilgrims traditionally leave a rock or other item from home as a symbolic gesture of love, or the laying down of a burden. 

I'm sure this plaque explains it much better, but I was just stuck by the irony of the Braille description of what we were "seeing". 

As we crossed the mountaintop, it began to rain again. On go the pack covers. We marched on towards our lunch destination. That's it ahead of Dave, and believe me - the picture makes it look 100 times better. Our guide had led us to believe it served food. In reality it's an old falling down building that some industrious person has placed boards, tarps and whatever other material was on hand to cover the structure. On a "table" he offered water, coffee served in plastic "solo" type cups, and graham crackers. He also had walking sticks and trinkets for sale. 

Still, it was shelter from the rain. So we sat down on a makeshift bench, and pulled out our "emergency" snacks, and bought a bottle water.  Soon we were joined by a friendly cat, meowing and trying to beg some food off us. 

She got some chips that I accidentally dropped on the floor, but we didn't have much to offer. So she left meowing loudly. We thought she was indignant. But no. 

She was calling in reinforcements. Four of the most adorable kittens you ever saw followed her back to us all mewing pitifully. They scampered all around, looking at us with pleading kitten eyes. 

I wanted to take this one home. Cooper would love it. 

The rain let up, so we continued without our kitten. Not far down the path, we came across the annex to our lunch stop. It had a little more to offer, but we passed on by. 

As we walked on, we took note of the military observation post just to the left of the antennae tower.  The weather was getting steadily worse. The rain, while not a downpour, was heavier and the fog closed in. It was much colder, so we added our fleece jackets under our raincoats. 

It was right about here that the opening scenes of "The Way" crossed my mind. 

Most of our descent was made very difficult by the rain and fog. It was treacherous to begin with because of the steepness, rocks and loose stones. But the rain and fog made it very slippery going as well.

But after a slow, careful ( and occasional trip) hike down, Acebo finally came into view. Just below the fog - of course. (Look for the flags in the middle just under the mist)

A few more steps,and the whole village magically appeared. 

We stayed in a small Rural Casa. It had four rooms to rent over a small store. We had a common kitchen, where the owner left breakfast for us to eat when we were ready in the morning. That worked out great for us. We were the only people staying the night. And since we only have 5 miles to hike tomorrow, we plan on a very laid back morning. 

La Rosa del Agua, our accommodations for the night.