In going to Castro, rather than staying in Grandas de Salime, I had gone outside my planned stopping points for each day, so I adjusted my plans for the following days accordingly. I had a leisurely breakfast, setting out later than in previous days, and found others on the trail before me. Once again, it was a misty Asturian autumn morning, with heavy dew everywhere.
The trail was dry, though, as it followed an old track as far as a woodland chapel. The route was constantly ascending, but soon came out into more open country. I passed through the village of Penafuente, and soon the ridge that is the boundary between Asturias and Galicia became visible.
The trail crosses the main road between the provinces, but is more direct in its ascent. The ridge carries a line of wind turbines. Although they seem to be rotating gently in the breeze, they actually make a considerable amount of noise, and this was the background going to the higher points of the slope.
Reaching the top, I had great views back towards the valleys of Asturias, still in mist. And then I was over the ridge. I had crossed from Asturias into Galicia, though at first sight it did not seem very different. The route descends through the woods, and it was not until I came to the road that there was the first of the Galician markers. In other provinces, the route markers give direction only, but in Galicia, they also give the distance to Santiago. My first marker in Galicia told me that I had just under 166km still to go.
I went on through the village of El Acebo without stopping. After that, the route continues downhill. Mostly it stays close to the main road, but almost always on tracks off the road. A couple of hours later, A Fonsegrada finally came into view, though there was still some distance on forest tracks to reach the town.
I had lunch in A Fonsegrada, and when I came out, I found it had been raining, with the sky threatening more rain to come. And sure enough it did. Most people stop in A Fonsegrada, but having started in Castro, I was going farther. Just outside A Fonsegrada, the rain came, and I had to take out my raingear.
But thankfully, I had not much farther to go. I went through the village of Padron, and shortly afterwards, just 300m of the trail, I reached the albergue. Altogether just 4km of walking in the rain
Walkingman 