2022 Sunday, Oct 9

Ponte de Lima to Pecene

Walking day from Ponte de Lima to Pecene (just beyond Rubiães). It looked bad in the guidebook but there is nothing to say but that we made it. Tougher than any other day on either Camino treks. the good news: it didn’t rain until the very end of the walk, although we had overcast skies. More good news: the overcast skies kept the temperature down, in the know 60’s (with high humidity).

14.52 miles hiking 10:18 am to 5:52 pm. 2104 elevation gain. 15.1 miles for the day.

2022  Portugal   Camino Portuguese

Click the link to view the video of the day: https://www.relive.cc/view/v1vjkAPW2YO

Candida, our hostess in the Ponte de Lima hotel
Candida attended to our every need at our overnight accommodation. She let us know that she had worked there 29 years!
quiet morning leaving Ponte de Lima
Ponte de Lima was pretty quiet on Sunday morning on our side of the river.
dirt trails leading out of town
The Way again started with dirt trails out of town. so far the only folks we saw were bicyclists speeding past.
equestrians practicing some fancy moves
Equestrians joined us on the trail. They were practicing some fancy moves, and the dogs seemed to make them anxious, so we just observed from off trail.
coffee break
Coffee break time. The owner came from Rome.
trail under the highway
The trail headed underneath one of Portugal’s busy highways. There was some interesting graffiti, plenty of trash, but no evidence of anyone living under the bridge.
Camino graffiti under the highway
John Brierley writes the best-selling guidebooks for the Camino.
Camino graffiti under the highway
Another cartoon describing one motivation for completing the Camino trek--get that Compostela!
Capela de N. S. Das Neves
This Capela de N. S. Das Neves was open and had many messages from pilgrims.
Capela de N. S. Das Neves - pilgrim messages
We were actually hoping to visit a cafe across the street, the last for quite a while on this stage, but it was unfortunately closed.
climbing up on the road
The path is climbing—not too tough on the street.
rocky steep paths
As we had rocky paths, climbing was tougher and poles were needed.
woodland path is a mix of stones, roots, dirt, and leaves
Now the woodland path is a mix of stones, roots, dirt, and leaves. Going was slower.
rocky trail
It felt like a scramble. Some places were very steep, and it felt almost like climbing.
cruz dos Franceses
We finally arrived at the cruz dos Franceses (also called the crux dos Mortos, a reference to the ambush on Napoleon’s troops during the peninsular war 1809). We both placed stones among the many other pilgrim stones.
not much of a trail
It’s hard to call it a trail at this point but we still had a bit more rock climbing to do.
Richard atop the pass of this day's trail
Finally—the top!
Richard on the trail
And now heading down.
messages left at a trailside cross
Another cross, more stones and messages.
rubber trees with sap
Sap is being collected from these trees. We’re not sure of the purpose.
Ravit and Sagi from Israel
The only pilgrims we saw all day to this point were Ravit and Sagi from Israel. In the late afternoon was stopped for refreshment just as Helena, Steve, and friend Jerry were leaving the cafe.
a Santiago marker
San Tiago is helping to show us the way.
Casa da Capela, our hotel in Pecene
We finally arrived at our nightly accommodation just before six o’clock, their dinner hour.
dinner at the hotel in Pecene
Imagine our surprise in the dining room when all but one person were pilgrims we’d met before. (L-r) Pam and Jon from Ohio, Huub from the Netherlands, Molora from Santa Barbara, Richard, Tim and Becky from Nee Hampshire, and Jan.

Comments:

Elwin and Lois Stocking: We are enjoying your trip. Stay safe and heathy. Looking forward to seeing more. Blessings to you!!! 2022/10/11

Reply We’re feeling tired but healthy. Rest days always help. No more rest until Santiago—six days to go! 2022/10/11

Dan Hendry: We are just as glad as you were that you broke the trip into two segments! It looked a bit more like a “mountain” trek! At least fewer highways. Get exhausted just looking at some of the pictures. Does it still “count” if you ride a horse part of the way? 2022/10/11

Reply: It is possible to get a Compostela for horseback riding. Also bicycles, a boat(?), and wheelchair. I don’t know all the rules, though.. 2022/10/11

Jim Constantin:: Looks like tough going. Glad you had sticks. I’m enjoying your post. 2022/10/10

Reply: Thanks, Jim. Sunday was by far the toughest day we have encountered on either Camino. We were warned in the guidebook and I relied heavily on my poles, but it could have been much worse with heat or rain. Some of our fellow pilgrims had two very tough days in a row: first a 21-mile day, and then Sunday’s trek over the mountain. They looked even worse than we did. We were certainly glad we had broken up the first day to make the mileage more manageable for us. 2022/10/10

Ann Prazza: A gnarly trail for sure! So many interesting folks/those horses were beautiful! 2022/10/10

Reply: That trail was the closest to mountain climbing I ever want to go! I knew you would love the horses—they certainly were beautiful. I wish I understood what the riders were practicing—some sort of prancing. 2022/10/10