Rabanal>Molinaseca

Today was the toughest day yet. The trail ascended to 4940 feet, the highest point on the camino. The cross at La Cruz de Ferro marks the location. It’s a significant point on the trail where pilgrims leave a stone or token they have carried from their home. It’s a point to reflect on the purpose of your journey. I’m on this trip for many reasons. I love the physical and emotional challenge. It’s given me time to pray. It’s given me time to reflect on my life. You connect with the world in a different way when you travel by foot. At times, especially when it’s really hot and on long stretch of trail, I feel that I’m a tiny spec on a giant sphere. I visualize lines that travels through the earth and connect me to the people I love and care about. While that distance feels great, a ray of sunshine could travel between those points a billion times in a heartbeat.  

I left a small piece of flint from home, took some time to pray and continued on.  
The views were amazing, and reminded me of the desert scrub in Sedona. The first ten miles of the day were relaxing, the last 6 miles were absolutely punishing. The trail dropped over 3000 feet in that final stretch. The terrain consisted of massive flakes of stone connected by narrow trials filled with basketball to golfball sized stones. Even with poles I kept rolling my right ankle. By the end of the day it had a electric throb. The downhill took me over 6 hours. Found a nice hotel in town, got a great meal of pasta and pan fried trout. Rice pudding for desert. Ibuprofen, tiger balm, ice for the ankle (it’s not bad after a little rest) laundry drying. It was a tough day but I can think of nothing else I would have rather done. As always, I feel blessed to be on the adventure!