Berducedo to Grandas de Salime

I had such a nice dinner and I got to eat at 6:00 PM.  My dinner was included last night and the hotel owner sent me to the albergue where I sat a table with two people from Denmark, a man from Holland, a man from Poland, a couple from France and a girl from Korea.  Even better, English was the common language.  The guy from Holland had met the girl from Denmark last year on the Camino Francáis and they had arranged to meet on this hike.  Her coworker from  (handsome man) from Denmark was traveling with her.  I think there was a little trail magic going on between the Dane and the Hollander...you could see the sparks.  Below is a photo of three cute little kitties, I saw walking back to my hotel.  They were avoiding the rain.

It was really cold when I left this morning. About 40 degrees, damp and windy. I wore a tee shirt, my wool shirt and my down jacket all day long and would have been chilled if I hadn't been working so hard climbing steep mountains. Brrrr. My trail notes said "Of all the sections of the Primitivo, this is probably the toughest, but it is the most rewarding."  They weren't kidding about the beauty and while it was tough, it was do-able. From Berducedo (which is already pretty high up I climbed to Aerogenedores.  

It doesn't look so high above because what you are looking at is clouds.  The clouds were below where I was hiking and it was raining below but not on me!  Below is Lucy from Germany.  Bavaria - the most beautiful part of Germany.  She is also hiking by herself.  I met Pablo from Portugal a little later on and I think they have a thing going on.  Love much be in the air on the Camino.

More views from high in the mountains.

Look at the mountains peeping up through the clouds.

My views from up high looked down on the Rio Navia and the Embalse de Salisme which is an enormous dam. Now you are looking at the dam from high above.

This is the Embalse de Salisme from closer.

And this was taken standing atop the dam.

After I crossed the dam, we had another bout of severe climb.  Most of this was on a narrow highway but luckily there wen't many cars. The next two photos are of the Rio Navia which was almost as wide as the Ohio, at least the Louisville section.

All and all, it was a magnificent experience.  There was rarely a minute that wasn't beautiful.  I can't imagine how anyone look at these beautiful vistas and not see the hand of God. Although we are pretty smart and creative as humans, nothing equals the majesty of nature! Tomorrow will be a great day because Dennis will meet me on the trail.  Hopefully, I am not in the bushes as he goes trotting by.  It will be nice to have him here.