Camino Santiago Day 8, Walking Day 5, 5-Sept-2023

Certificate of me Being a Good Pilgrim 😀

Poem for Day 5 of Walking

Fabulous hotel.
Exciting walk to city.
Rain storm cleans off dust.

This was/is the capstone day of this Camino— getting to town, getting to the Cathedral, getting certified, celebrating with yourself and Camino buddies, etc. Very exciting. For us was the added joy of returning our trekking poles to Pilgrim House so somebody else can use and enjoy them. As useful as they were, it was a needed relief to donate them back to their source.

We started at km 20.8, in the dark but getting light. This was our first break, at “Cafe km 15”. The morning was refreshing and sun peeked thru the clouds and trees around km 19.

There will be a lot of reference to kms for this day, because we generally knew exactly how far we had to go (Santiago Cathedral at 0.0!). And it was kind of like what it must have been living at the end of BCE, when the years counted backwards and you figure that there’s got to be something at or around zero. 😀😀😀

Km 18.604 and a garbage can. I was as impressed by the number of garbage cans on this stretch as I was depressed at the apparent need for them.

Trail scene

Km 17.571

Km 16.592(?) I liked the brick wall background

Km 12.230

Cafe km 12, time for another break

Church and Bar in close proximity

More trail. Less populated at the moment as the crowds have outpaced us once again

Km 11.140

Km 10.000 and some corn. There was a lot of corn to be seen in general, but only one km 10.000 milestone. Single digits ahead! and a couple of hills. Km 10.0 is at the low point around “x-axis=12” on the elevation profile below

Stretch of trail. And some corn.

Km 5.630. There was a long stretch marked as an alternate (complementario?) route without kms identified. But we saw no “route choice” option, we were always right on the recommended path, and everybody else was going the same way.

Ha ha, Peterson Rock Gardens, Santiago Version. Looked very closed and dilapidated but so intriguing. Between the last photo and this one were some spectacular uphills, some long straight stretches, tons of km milestones with the km value vandalized off of them, a very much bug-filled attempted lunch stop, and a 30-minute heavens opened and water/wind poured out rainstorm—the only time we put on rain jackets on the trail, and that monster downhill as seen in the elevation profile.

As we got closer, the km milestones disappeared altogether and the guidance was like this and often covered with stickers (which had been carried by pilgrims for unknown distances before being put to these purposes).

This very creative milestone was some ways out of town, not in order of this blogs general sequence.

There were some really big eucalyptus trees along the way

Another trail scene

In town, getting close, no need for km milestones I guess!

Getting even closer!

At the Santiago de Compostela sign

At km 0.000 (no marker needed). !!! Very fun and worthwhile!

Buen Camino!!!!!! Keep the good times rolling!