My first Camino begins!
It seems strange that, living in a city on the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St James, I’d never got round to doing it… but there you go. Taking advantage of the very mild winter we’re having, I picked a few days at the beginning of February and went for it. This time of year lets you do the Camino without the crowds in the pilgrims’ hostels.
Being from Oviedo, the most logical thing seemed to be to start here and ride the Camino Primitivo, the oldest route of the Way of St James. I’ve planned four stages; we’ll see whether I can stick to them. On this first stage my father decided to come with me for a few kilometres. It’s 9 in the morning and a sultry wind is blowing that promises rain. I’ve always loved the path that takes us to Grado. I haven’t ridden it for ages, and today I enjoy it like a kid. The clouds clear and the sun comes out, a sun that really beats down, especially for the time of year. We enjoy some lovely trails as far as the first stop, in Grado, where we strip off layers like mad. Everything’s too much; I’m starting to think shorts wouldn’t have been a bad idea.
We say goodbye: my father heads back to Oviedo and I carry on alone. I climb the Cabruñana in tremendous heat. The winter boots and long trousers are too much, but it is what it is. I can’t carry winter and summer clothes unless I want to be overloaded and, to be honest, it hadn’t even crossed my mind. The climb is hard, on tarmac but very steep. Once at the top, I drop quickly down to La Doriga and, in Cornellana, stop again to refuel. Next comes La Espina, and this is serious: it’s the first really hard climb and the day’s kilometres are starting to tell. I head off along a beautiful path, tough, broken and wet. I have to get off and push a couple of times.
I come out onto the road and take another path, muddy at first and dry after a few hundred metres. From there, road all the way to Tineo. And how it drags. There’s a very strong headwind and I’m crawling along. I stop in Tineo for lunch; the plan is to sleep in Campiello. I leave Tineo avoiding the path, which turns off over a very steep hillside, and I’m running low on strength, so I only leave the road when the path is clearly downhill. On one of these detours I end up in a sort of bobsleigh run, covered in leaves up to the wheel axles, as beautiful as it is dangerous given how uneven the ground is.
I overtake a pilgrim, the only one I’ve seen all day, and reach Campiello. The Albergue Rodrigo is very pretty and comfortable, and I have it all to myself. A bit cold at night, perhaps, but it doesn’t stop me sleeping like a log. More tomorrow.
