Day 26 to Santiago de Compostela

29 September 2023 Day 26 destination Santiago Cathedral - my last challenging 16 kilometers

You would think this would be an easy day and yes, I did savor it, each kilometer counting down to the goal line and Santiago, but my ankle somehow is screaming, and it was a difficult walk at approximately half of my normal speed. I don’t know if I restrained it or all of the pounding re-inflamed it, but it was quite painful

In order to try to avoid some of yesterdays traffic we got up and we’re out walking by 6":45 am when it was still dark out. It was awesome to be walking under the stars two planets and a full moon. We should’ve done this yesterday morning as well… headlamps were in order for safety, so as not to step on something, or into a hole and roll an ankle or step off the path into a ditch. First light came about an hour later at 7:45

Temperature was a wonderful 15°C only needed a T-shirt to start walking in today.

For the first time we set out walking before seven in the dark. we should’ve done this yesterday. It was excellent as they were very few, relatively speaking,, pilgrims walking. A headlamp was required as it was dark, in spite of the full moon, stars overhead, and the presence of Jupiter and Venus. Again it was an awesome start and I had forgotten how nice it was to walk before sunrise as our departures were ‘late’ relatively speaking. And at my youthful age I could care less if I were the last one out of the hostel.

I didn’t take very many pictures today simply because a lot of the vistas and scenes were the same as I’ve enjoyed daily all along. Additionally, I was focused on my ankle and foot placement, since I knew I had four hours of walking much of which would be on pavement with very steep descents into Santiago