Day 4

It was about to be the best of days add possibly the worst of days. We woke up to temperatures hovering around 13c and a constant drizzle. You might think otherwise but a cool drizzle is better than a downpour or direct sun and high temperature.

I decided to walk today. There are a lot of conflicting answers to how long a stage today will be. Basically get walking. Siobhan, Ivan,  and Stephen started out adjusting our rain gear almost immediately. The drizzle would start and then stop, and then start again. Finding the right balance of protection became the game we would all play today.

As the high temperature was only 14C today we were already starting to heat up in the rain gear. Typically waterproofing is accomplished with plastic layers. Think ponchos. Ventilation is a bit of a secondary function unless you are paying crazy money for protection made with GoreTex and other crazy materials.

My solution is a jacket I bought for our trip to Newfoundland. It’s not made from exotic materials but it is large enough so I can put my daypack on and then wear this jacket overtop. I do have my Skechers waterproof trail shoes as well. To top it all off (pun alert) I wore my Rocket Hat from St. John’s Newfoundland. When I pull my hood of my jacket up it typically falls over my face. The Rocket Hat solves that issue instantly.

In my bag there is a poncho, rain pants, and a walking umbrella. OK, I have already predict what’s being said. No the umbrella doesn’t walk, but it has been engineered to be attached to your backpack. The umbrella is designed for walking in the direct sun and walking in the rain.

Based on the forecast I thought I may as well forgo the heavy rain gear.

Walking out of Melide we got to enjoy a couple of rolling hills and then a really steep decline that went on for, and I kid you not, about 2 1/2 km. Guess what comes after a big decent….a big climb. That climb was over a kilometer in length and people following weren’t careful they might be tripping on chunks of my lung on the trail. This was brutally difficult, then add the complication of rain.

At times the rain would stop and take off gear, just to stop a bit later to put it back on. Sweating heavily generates, you guessed it, moisture from the inside. Pretty soon you are drenched.

The final stretch of the day is climbing from Ribadiso for Arzua. A 3 km constant climb. You’ve got to remember this is coming at the end of a very strenuous day.Stephen and I are slow compared to Siobhan and Ivar so we kept our own pace. They would wait for us typically at the top, possibly just to see if we made it.

Finally on the outskirts of Arzua we stopped for lunch in a roadside dinner and had a great meal. Then it was time to put on our weatherproof layers and head out back onto the trail. There’s nothing quite like putting on wet rain gear. The feeling is clammy and cold. Walking and building up a head of steam to warm up is your only option. Thankfully it wasn’t windy.

We finally made it here and each of us are taking care of business. The first order of business for me was to jump in the shower to try to kill off the chill that I hadn’t shaken. Some are doing laundry, at least one person is writing a blog after his shower, and still others are just taking it easy.

At 5pm Ivar, myself and Stephen went out to try and find a bar that was opened. I had a red wine and an Aquarius Limon electrolyte drink. As my watch had died at some point during the day I asked. Ivar what his watch recorded. As we are the same height the distances and steps should be approximately accurate.

Thanks to Ivar’s watch we walked 18km and around 25,000 steps….more or less.

Dinner call is at 7:30. The Spanish restaurants are mostly cater to Spanish clientele now so the availability of restaurants before 7:30 is almost 0%.

Different country, different culture…..just different.

Just a quick last note. Taking pictures was only practical when the rain was slacking off.

The other thing is to let you know we are staying in really fancy digs. Typically these are Hostals and Pensiones….but they have all been really nice. Here’s where we are tonight.

Let’s see what tomorrow has in store.