O Cebreiro to Triacastela · 21 km / 13 miles · about 670 m / 2,200 ft of descent from Alto do Poio
After yesterday’s climb, today was the long walk across the roof of Galicia and down the other side. From O Cebreiro, at 1,293 m / 4,242 ft, the Camino follows the ridge past Liñares, Alto de San Roque and Hospital da Condesa, then makes one last steep pull to Alto do Poio, at 1,335 m / 4,380 ft, the highest point of the Camino in Galicia. The fog never really lifted up high. Stone walls and slate-roofed chapels came out of the mist a few metres at a time, and most of the time all we could see was the next yellow arrow.
It was a day of small companions. A huge, gentle mastiff came to sit with us at a café stop, farm dogs dozed in the doorways, a black cat crossed the path, and cows and horses grazed in the cloud. Carved wooden pilgrims and wild men watched us from the roadside. Then the path dropped through Fonfría and Filloval into chestnut woods, past centuries-old chestnut trees near Ramil, and down into Triacastela, the town of “three castles,” at about 665 m / 2,180 ft. We ended the day together for a group photo, tired and grateful.
In 1833, a young John Henry Newman was stuck on a ship becalmed in the Mediterranean, far from home, sick and unsure of his future. There he wrote the hymn that later became “Lead, Kindly Light.” He did not ask to see the whole road. He asked for light enough for the next step. I thought of him all day in the fog.
“Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, lead Thou me on! The night is dark, and I am far from home; lead Thou me on! Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see the distant scene; one step enough for me.”
John Henry Newman, “Lead, Kindly Light” (1833)
“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”
Psalm 119:105
A lamp for the feet lights only a few steps at a time. Where are you asking God to show you the whole road, when He may be giving you just enough light for the next step? What is the one step in front of you this week?
Walk the whole road with us
This is Day 8 of the Camino Eclipse Diaries: sixteen days and about 257 km / 160 miles on the Camino Francés from León to Santiago. A new day comes out every Thursday and Sunday on our YouTube channel, our Facebook Page and Instagram. Missed the start? Watch Day 0: a total eclipse over León, Day 1: Listening, Day 2: There Is No Hurry, Day 3: Up into the Mountains, Day 4: The Cruz de Ferro, Day 5: Templars and Vineyards, Day 6: Taste and Sound and Day 7: Overcoming Adversity.
Walk with us in 2027
Angela and I will host a small group from Porto to Santiago on the Camino Portugués, 4–20 April 2027, in a Holy Year. Come to a free Zoom information evening at 7:00 pm Mountain on Wednesday 18 November, 16 December or 20 January. Read about the 2027 Camino Portugués.
Buen Camino,
James M. Gehrke, MS, DMin, and Angela Gehrke, your hosts
