Day 16, A shortish day and some thoughts on the daily hikes

Los Arcos
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Day 16, June 2^nd

Los Arcos to Viana

645km to Santiago, 307km from start

Distance: 20km

Some of the trail is on the road
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We had a shorter hike to Viana. Another day of good tracks and cool weather helped us make good time.

That’s a positive progress statement and we do keep a good pace during the day . .. . but . . . the four to six hours a day we spend on the Camino have been anything but fun. We usually start out feeling OK but by the end of the second or third hour something starts to hurt . . . sometimes a lot. After that, one or both of us takes an aspirin or two and we put our heads down and finish. There is very little enjoying the country-side at that point. We hit town, get a place to stay as fast as we can, take our shoes off, lay down, and put our feet up. In an hour or so we usually feel well enough to take a shower, put our sandals on, visit the village, and start appreciating things again. We keep hoping that as we get used to the mileage and weight, we’ll be able to enjoy our walks more. For now . . . not so much!

We speak with other folks on the trail and their feelings are similar and some of the people have had really bad foot problems: heel sized blisters, lost toe nails, torn muscles,sprains, et.al.

Pack weight. Even though we’re down to near essentials (ok I’m still carrying the laptop), weight drives wear and tear on the Camino. I’m still very focused on it. Everything from the practical: how much food and water we’re carrying between villages; to the near ridiculous: I tear out pages from our travel books as we pass through those places. The last big card we have to play is the Laptop. We’ll be in Madrid for a break before we do the last ten days to Santiago and we can leave it at the Boeing office . . . we’ll see.

Marie has been amazing on this trip and often drives the pace but we're both looking forward to a day of rest in Bilbao.

Villages: Los Arcos, Sansol, Torres del Rio, Viana