Day 10 - Negreira to Olveiroa

We left this morning as early as we could, with a 34 kilometer (21 mile) hike in front of us.  As expected, the hike was very hilly, so this was certainly one of our more challenging days.  And it rained for much of the day.   I guess we’ve had so much beautiful weather (low 60s and sunny or slightly overcast) that our luck couldn’t last forever.   We walked past this wall, and wondered if it was a walled city in the past.

We had a large group together for a while, but slowly broke up into smaller groups.   For a while, I walked with about five senoritas who were singing, then went ahead of them and met up with a man and his girlfriend – his name is Oriole and hers is Mary.   They are from Catalan and have been walking for several weeks.   I learned that the bird “oriole” is named from “oro”, the Spanish word for “gold” because of its color.  Oriole is a librarian who is extremely interested in history and geography.  He knows the states and their capitals better than most Americans.   However, much of his education is from books, so he pronounces a lot of words based on their spelling.   So “Mt. St. Helens” sounded like “mentelens” and it took me a few minutes to figure out what he meant!  Mary (whose name is short for a Catalan name that I did not pick up) is a social worker; her job has been more difficult with the influx of immigrants.  I spent the last fifteen or so miles with them.

This path was extremely hilly.   Once again, I was grateful for my hiking poles, because my right leg is still weak and I would have had an extremely difficult time without the poles.   With them, I had no trouble – and perhaps my tricep muscles are becoming very strong!

At one point, we met a donkey in the middle of the road.   He was very friendly, and was amenable to having his picture taken.

Donkey with Bob

Mary, Donkey, and Oriole

A short time later, we saw a Fitbit (or something similar) on the ground.   We weren’t sure what to do – so we didn’t do anything.   A short time afterwards, we stopped for a quick drink, and the five senoritas who had been singing came up holding the Fitbit and asked if it was ours.  It was not, so we continued for another half kilometer or so, and came across three people, one of whom was very upset  because she lost her Fitbit (well, her conversation with Oriole and Mary was very fast and I only understood a few words – but her distress was evident).   Oriole told her about the five girls who had it, and she hastened back to meet them.   When we stopped for a drink a few kilometers later, we met the five girls and they told us that the Fitbit had been delivered to its owner!

A few more miles and many hills later, we were near the top of a mountain and saw this beautiful vista.

And a mile or two after that, we saw this sign which led me to think that we were close to our destination.

Not long after that, we saw another sign indicating that we were in the city of Corzon.   Well – Corzon must be as big as Madrid, because an hour later we were still in it – and we were hiking at a pretty good pace!  Finally, we saw the next sign:

First Sign

Second Sign

This time, it was only about a kilometer before reaching a group of hostels.   One was the one that Oriole and Mary had booked, and another was the one for the Cleveland Hiking Club.

In the evening, at dinner, I heard an interesting story from others in our group.   Here is what happened:

George, Sil, Karin, and Joe were hiking on the road and they encountered a bakery truck.  Always willing to make a new friend, George approached the baker, pulled a flask from his pocket, and offered the baker a drink.  Now that they were good friends, the baker told them to stop at his bakery a way down the road.   They found it and stopped in, where they met the baker's wife.  They mentioned meeting the baker and sharing a drink with him, and she quickly went into a back room and returned with a large flask of moonshine, which she shared with all of them!   She also gave them something resembling a huge tuna sandwich, which they packed and took with them.  They continued on their way, and saw the bakery truck again.   Showing him a picture of George giving the baker's wife a little kiss, he smiled, went to the back of his truck, and gave them two large loaves of bread!    Now that they had plenty of food, they continued on and passed a man pulling a wagon which appeared to hold his worldly possessions, including his guitar.  Oriole, Mary and I had seen him also, but though nothing of it after briefly greeting him.  George and his group stopped to talk to him, and learned that he had been craving some bread all day, but could not afford it.   They left him with the sandwich and two loaves of bread - making his day!

This is the first night that we are using a hostel rather than a hotel.   I am sharing a second floor with Karen & Burt, with Karin, and with Theresa.   They have private rooms, but I have a bed (admittedly a big and comfortable one, with some furniture around it) in the area in front of our shared bathroom.   There will be no privacy tonight!