Day 43 to 44:Villafranca del Bierzo to Calvor

"So may the sunrise bring hope
where it once was forgotten
sons can be birds taken broken
up to the mountain"
-Iron and Wine

Left Jesús' place on a very, very cold morning. I've given up taking my guide's "recommended" shortcuts, so for today, I'm sticking to the road. While I was in Ponferrada, I had bought some knee supports in anticipation of my climb tomorrow. From what I can tell, they're about as useful as a bicycle is to a fish. Despite wearing the damn things all day, my knees were still aching a bit when I was done, and I didn't even do any major climbing or descending. Well, to hell with those. Going to try for O Cebreiro without them.

The next day, from Vega de Valcarce found me unusually energized. I only had 14k scheduled to get to O Cebreiro, since it was a 900m climb to there. Well, I got there just after noon, and decided I had way too much energy to stop. Ended up walking another 12k that day, to end in Fonfria. The views from the top of the pass were amazing, but not even close to the views on the first mountain crossing. Just before I arrived in O Cebreiro, I crossed the last regional border, into Galicia. One more provincial border to go, and I'm all set. The route to Fonfria was pretty much more of the same, not really coming down of the mountain, but more like walking along it's crest.

Compared to the previous day's glory, the day from Fonfria to Calvor can be described in one word. S**t. This section, for some reason was extremely poorly waymarked, and every pilgrim that I've talked to got lost at some point today. With me, it happened about 2k outside of Fonfria, where the camino seemed to follow a stony farm path down to into a valley. Well it didn't. After about an hour of descending, knowing that I was lost, but refusing to backtrack, I found the main road, which I walked along until I found a village. Once I did, they were more than happy to show me the way back to the camino. They're probably sick of being asked by now. Despite the fact that today's path lead steeply downhill along rough paths, my knees didn't seem to be hurting. Of course, that may be because I didn't notice them over the searing pain in my right ankle. Yup...about 10 minutes after I took the wrong path outside of Fonfria, I rolled it good. Was a little worried about taking my boot off, because if my foot decided to swell, I might not be able to get it back on. So...tighten the laces and plod on. And on. And on. 22km of "and on" later, I arrived at Calvor. Exhausted. An absolute wreck. It's one thing to be exhausted from physical exertion, but from having to deal with pain is another thing altogether. Still, after a long, long rest off my feet and a high protein (ie, Spanish) dinner, it's feeling much better. Also, no swelling or bruising thank heavens. Going to try to make Portomarín tomorrow, which will take me within 100km of Compostella. 93 to be exact. But that's 26km away from Calvor, so we'll have to see.