Olveiroa to Cee – about 20 KM
The weather map this morning looks awful. There was no forecast for Olveiroa so I had to check the weather in Cee, about 13 miles away. It showed not just rain but thundershowers with rain falling at 1/2 inch per hour in mid to late morning. That’s a lot. BUT it looked like there was a short delay, like maybe an hour, before the hard stuff started. I wolfed down a quick piece of toast and some tea and headed out of Olveiroa by myself. Most of the walkers were still in the cafe when I left but I wanted to get ahead of the weather so, if necessary, I could wait it out in O Nogoso or Hospital about 5 km up the road.
I forgot to figure in the distance, and time, for a storm cloud to move from Cee to Olveiroa, about 15 km in a straight line. As it had been yesterday, the wind was blowing 20 Mph with gust to 30 from the west. Within 15 minutes I knew I made a mistake as the light rain turned steady. There was nothing to do but keep going. Again the Patagonia jacket proved to be a joke for water resistance. An hour into the walk I was at O Nogoso and stopped at the bar to hopefully wait out some of the hard weather. After 20 minutes the rain slowed down so I hot-footed it to Hospital. The rain caught me again and by the time I reached Hospital I was soaked completely through my clothes. It was now 10:30. Looking at the weather map it showed heavier showers on the way but clearing after about 12:30.
I changed into my dry clothes and waited it out. Sure enough, about 11:45 it just dumped for about half an hour. Truly a tropical type storm. Certainly the 1/2 in per hour if not more. I just stayed inside and waited and watched as other Peregrinos walked by or stopped to get out of the rain.
Sure enough, about 12:30 the rain stopped and the overcast thinned and I was on my way. Maybe a little too soon since there were massive amounts of water flowing across the road and large puddles on the trail making my shoes and socks wet. But it really didn’t rain again that day.
The bar at Hospital as I was leaving.
Two items worth mentioned.
There is a fountain about 5 km before Cee at the Fuente de San Pedro with a truly beautiful old church. The church was set on a small plot of grass. I stopped at the Fuente and filled my water bottles, but was concerned about any rain so didn’t take any photos. But this is one of the few places I saw that I would really like to return to. The setting was so nicely laid out and serene looking it still calls me.
Second was the decent into Cee. This had to be the Devil’s ankle trap and knee buster. It was a half mile very steep decent over loose rocks and muddy ground. It would have been very easy to place one’s foot on a rock and have it roll over twisting an ankle. Couple that with the hard pressure on my knees due to trying to keep control over the steep decent and I was hurting when I reached the bottom of the hill.
rocks, mud and steeper than it looks
BUT at the bottom I was in the town of Cee and just a 1/2 mile from my hotel (Hotel Larry, 35E for a nice room with bath). The room was much nicer than the night before. The hotel was family run and there was a lot of pride in the family – It showed in the service and food. For example, some of my clothes were really soaked. The Senora took the clothes and dried them overnight. No questions just did it. The father was the cook for the dining room (both dinner and breakfast). The whole family took pride in their hotel, restaurant and bar and it showed. I think we were a group of 7 or 8 that night for dinner and we all had a great time. Maybe even too much wine if that’s possible.
Tomorrow there is not supposed to be any rain and that makes the day look better already. But I developed a painful blister on my right foot. I suppose it was from walking in the wet shoes and socks.
On to Fisterra tomorrow…..