Day 31: La Faba - Triacastela, 25.4 km.
We left Julia after breakfast in La Faba where she's decided to stay for a day off, brilliant idea!! I couldn't talk Bryan into hanging out in hippy, vegetarian heaven for another day so off we climbed. And climbed. And climbed. And when we thought we were done, we climbed some more. Very steep uphill day for much longer than expected reaching the top elevation of 1337 meters/4386.5 feet.
Crossing the mountains, we were rewarded with epic views all day. Every 2-3 km we strolled through 8th & 9th century hamlets with populations of 20+ people. We left the province of Leon today and entered Galicia, our final region on the Camino. Their economy is based in farming and agriculture and we experienced a lot of close encounters with farm animals. We also tasted the local cheese, very mild and yummy.
The final 6 kilometers were downhill, some very steep. It was a beautiful trail through the woods and we even had the opportunity to hug an 800 year old tree. This day is a day where we earned our Camino stripes (once again) and feel pleased and proud our bodies did so well with the challenge. Feet up, with wine in hand, is all I can manage after a day like today.
