Cruz de Ferro

I set off at first light, on my own, as i had an important task to complete today. The morning was chill and foggy and i made my way uphill to the highest point of the camino 1505m/4937 feet.

The Cruz de Ferro (the Iron Cross) emerged from the gloom. It is tradition to bring a stone from home to leave at the bottom of the cross. I'd brought a stone with me from the beach next to the cemetary where my son is buried and i laid it gently at the bottom of the cross and had a moment. Task completed. Did i feel better for it, more unburdened. Maybe, perhaps...

The rest of the day was mainly downhill, i emerged from the cloud and the rest of the day was warm and sunny. The mountain villages were stunningly beautiful. I plodded on to arrive during the late afternoon in Ponferrada and checked into the hotel we'd booked.

Lizzie arrived later on and Sarah, Lizze and i had a great re-union - we'd first met twelve months ago when we were volunteering on a project in sub-arctic Canada and had got on really well.