Day 12 Armenteira


In my haste to leave last night's concert I left my club behind. Three of us were walking back to the albergue and one asked "Do you have your club?" Whoops. I messaged the group and one of them found it and brought it back to the albergue. We watch each other's back. It's the Camino spirit. I did it earlier in the trip; now someone repaid me.

I had been warned that the Variante Espiritual was a difficult climb. The first 6-7 miles weren't too bad. From there it's a steady 4-5 mile climb. You start at an elevation of 50-100 feet and top out around 1,500 feet. The last 1.5 miles are downhill into Armenteira. I made a wrong turn where the Variante splits from the main trail. That cost me about a mile total.

Cool and breezy today. Clouds gathering in Armenteira but I don’t think it'll rain.

I started at 7am this morning and got to Armenteira about 2:45pm. I took my time coming up the hill and took a few breaks.

At the top of the hill I ran into three people I'd met previously. We walked together until just outside Armenteira. One man from NJ, two ladies from CA. Other than that I was largely alone, ahead of our group.

As you might expect I was rather sore when I reached the top of the hill. No worries...I'll be ready tomorrow!

Today's stats: 16.50 tough miles, 40,250 steps, 6:11.













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