September 30, 2018
- Route: Negreira to Olveiroa
- Distance: 33.6 kilometers (20.88 miles)
After washing my backpack and letting it air dry at the albergue yesterday, I had remember how to put it back together again. Unfortunately, there was a problem. I didn’t take any photos before I disassembled everything. And now, I’d forgotten which direction one of the critical pieces went.
I’m using a Gossamer Gear Mariposa pack on the Camino, which is an ultralight internal frame pack. The tricky park of reassembling the pack is remembering which direction the metal support piece is suppose to face. The entire thing has a bit of an S-curve to it. So, if you put it in backwards, the pack will be uncomfortable and it will not matching the curve of your back.
After a bit of teeth gnashing, I finally found a photo online that showed the assembled metal support system. I put it back together just like it was depicted in the picture, then I put my empty pack back on, just to make sure everything felt correct. And so, I figured I had nothing to worry about. Or so I thought…
Second guessing myself
When I departed the albergue this morning, it was still dark and I had to make my way back down the hill to Negreira. Now that my pack was full with all my things again, it felt just a little bit off. At first, I wondered if I was just imagining it.
But, what if I didn’t put that metal support piece in the correctly? Did it only feel fine last night because my pack was empty? The further I walked toward town, the more confident I was becoming that something was very wrong. My pack wasn’t riding as comfortably as it normally did. I was almost sure of it.
After second guessing myself for several minutes, I decided to take action. Once I made it to the bottom of the hill, I found somewhere to stop to fix it. Of course, this meant I ended up also unpacking half the contents of my pack on a bus bench under the light of a street lamp. But, I was able to get the support piece out, reversed, and back in its sleeve in a matter of minutes.
With everything repacked again, my pack seemed to feel better. I wasn’t 100% sure, but this felt a lot more like how my pack rode on my back the past few weeks. So, perhaps the photo I used as a guide yesterday was off.
Back in the country
As the sun rose this morning, I could still see bits of fog clinging to the valleys, and each time I went down into one, the temperature seemed to drop noticeably. As a result, I found I need to wearing several layers until mid-morning when the mist finally burned off.
I eventually stopped at lovely cafe open for breakfast, and decided to warm up by treat myself to a hearty meal of tostadas y huevos (toast with butter and jam and some eggs). Normally, I’ve been eating a lighter breakfast, but for some reason I found myself feeling famished this morning. Maybe having to work a little harder on the hills is affecting my appetite. Or maybe it’s the cooler temperatures.
Missing home
The Camino tended to vacillate between paved paths, road shoulders, small towns, all day. There were a few short bits that went through a forest, but I noticed there seemed to be more hard ground beneath my feet today than I wanted or expected.
As I walked on these less interesting sections, I found myself putting my earbuds in, listening to some music, and thinking about getting back home. The Camino has been a wonderful experience, but I think I’m ready to get back to the U.S. and see all the people I love and miss.
I also miss my normal way of eating. I tend to eat lots of grains, fruits and vegetables. So, while I’ve always been able to find something to fill my dietary needs out here, I’m getting a bit tired of the same of handful of relatively bland food choices.
One of the best aspects of living in the U.S. is the wide range of culinary choices. Our cultural melting pot provides so many tasty options, from American-style food (e.g., BBQ, Tex-Mex, or Cajun) to delicious ethnic cuisine from around the world. What I wouldn’t give right now for a plate of sautéed Brussel sprouts and a piece of fresh grilled salmon! Or maybe some spicy Thai or Indian food.
Hórreos
I was brought back from my daydreaming about food by another curiosity. One of the more unusual sights I walked past today were these elevated wood and stone buildings with red tile roofs. It seemed everywhere I looked, I’d see one in a field or on the side of the road. I haven’t seen them anywhere else on the Camino, and soon learned they are unique to the Galicia region of Spain that I’m walking though now.
Initially, I had no clue what they were or why they were here. I spent a few hours mentally speculating and trying to come up with different ideas. Perhaps they were some sort of elaborate chicken coop. Or maybe they are used as a dark place to store distilled liquids (like a fancy moonshine shed). Finally, I decided to ask one of the locals what they were called, and learned they are hórreos.
Spanish farmers began using these structures as granaries in the medieval period, and there are still approximately 18,000 of them here in Spain. The reason they’re build above the ground was to in an effort to keep rodents out of their feed and grain stores. Although hórreos are no longer used for their original purpose, they still dot the landscape as a symbol of the region’s past.
Rubbed Raw
With this mystery resolved, I decided to my day in the town of Olveiroa. Although I’ve avoided many of the popular stopping points along the Camino Frances, there aren’t nearly as many choices of where to stop along the Camino Finisterre. So, I’ve conceded that I’m just going to have to be in the mix of it.
On the plus side, there are far fewer pilgrims on this route, so it doesn’t feel as cramped or like the entire village is teeming with tourists. Perhaps it’s just the time of year though. Today is September 30th, and I suspect I’m arriving here at the very end of the season.
I was glad to finally take my pack of when I arrived in town because my back felt like it was on fire. It didn’t become really noticeable until I removed my jacket mid-morning. Without that extra layer as padding, my shirt seemed to be rubbing my back a lot more.
Then, as I got into the shower at the albergue, I realized something was seriously wrong. As soon as the warm water hit my back, it felt like I was being stung by a swarm of bees. That’s when I realized the skin on about 1/3 of my back had slowly been rubbed raw while I was walking.
Apparently, stopping to turn that metal support around in my pack this morning was the WRONG thing to do. Instead of the S-shape forming comfortably to my body, the metal curve was reversed and it had created a friction point right in the middle of my back.
Why, oh why, did I second guess myself back in Negreira this morning?? I’d seen the photo yesterday. It showed exactly how the support piece was supposed to be replaced inside my pack after I washed it. Instead of just accepting that my pack might feel different, I had to fidget with it and created a real mess.
Take me for a ride
After getting dressed and rubbing copious amounts of lotion on my chafed back, I decided to find somewhere to drown out my pain and misery. The albergue had a bar and restaurant, but they were busy serving a large party of about 20 people attending an event in a private room.
Wandering around town, I found a small modern restaurant that had some true character. The bar had these eclectic barstools with what looked metal tractor seats to sit on, and there was a wheel at the bottom to help you move them around. They were really solid and heavy, but also suprisingly comfortable.
And so that’s how I spend the next hour siddled up to the bar and numbing my ego. After a few glasses of wine, I’d completely forgotten all about my chafed back and was looking forward to tomorrow – aka my last day walking the Camino!
