14.4 km – 8.9 miles

490 meters – 1607 feet elevation loss

It was a nice morning to walk down a mountain. Lots of down, and lots of rocks that were willing and ready to twist your ankles. While the views were pleasant, the terrain wasn’t always so pleasant.

I was hoping to see the Iberian wolf that my friends encountered on the trail in that area yesterday. They posted pictures they took of it just out for a walk on the trail with not a care in the world of the people in the area. What a cool experience for them!

The first village I walked through didn’t have any bars or cafes open so I had to continue in to Molinaseca. My parents will get to experience Molinaseca for a night when they come over here after I finish walking. It’s one of the more adorable towns along the Camino. My dad will be happy to know that the fish were rising when I walked over the historic Roman bridge into the village.

Just before I got to Molinaseca, Erin from Australia caught up with me and we walked into Ponferrada together. She was in my albergue room last night. I was also happy to run into Marcy and Sam from California after arriving in town. It also sounds like Karah from New Mexico had a rest day here and she should be on a similar walking schedule as me for the rest of the walk. Definitely nice to have more pilgrims to socialize with a bit.

I’ll just be wandering around Ponferrada for the afternoon and likely planning to tour the castle here later today. My body is definitely happy with me to have this shorter day. From tomorrow on, I should have fairly typical Camino length walks each day. When I hit Sarria, I’ll likely need to start booking my albergue or hostels a couple days in advance since the Camino gets busier for the last 100km.

And now, lunch…