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Camino Sanabrés, Lubián to A Gudiña, Day Seven, 24 Kilometers (14.91 Miles)

Our day seven on the Camino Sanabres from Lubián to A Gudiña was a long and strenuous walk, almost entirely on forest paths! My spirits were more lifted because the rain had finally ceased, and the scenery was more delightful. 

Quote for Day Seven on the Camino Sanabrés, Lubián to A Gudiña

"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky." ~ Rabindranath Tagore

In our case, the clouds from yesterday that were clearing out in the morning, brought us one of the most amazing sunrises that I had seen in some time. 

Our day seven was again frequented by clouds, but bringing only a very light rain, that was welcome most of the day, because it aided it keeping us cool throughout our arduous climbs. 

I had a bit of a personal meltdown in the afternoon, when I needed to dig more deeply to get through the difficult terrain in the late afternoon. Day seven was no cake-walk, despite its shorter length. I often get quite grumpy in the afternoon when I am tired, hungry and just want to stop walking!

Maps and Stats of Day Seven on the Camino Sanabrés, Lubián to A Gudiña

Here is my Google interactive map, showing the services available on this day to the pilgrimage traveler. There is not much along the rural pathways other than churches, and one café, not quite halfway, in Vilavella. Plan to have your pack full of food and water for this walk. With the energy required to get through the day, you will not be sorry. 

As alluded to above, the day is strenuous, with two significant climbs, both of which require effort. The first climb of the day is short and steep. You must gain 322 meters (1056 feet) over 4.5 kilometers. Then you lose all the elevation that you gained, before the second. It is not so steep 138 meters (452 feet) over about five kilometers. Doesn't sound like much? Walk it and see for yourself!

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Photo-Rich Travelogue for Day Seven on the Camino Sanabrés, Lubián to A Gudiña

We arose to a foggy day, but without rain. We left our accommodations, the Casa de Irene and the Albergue de Lubián and met at 8:30 to walk up the hill and onto the Calle da Cruz by staying to the left. There were lots of old stone homes being renovated through this quaint town and already we could hear the sounds of construction and jackhammering. 

As we reached the high-point on the street, the view of the lower town was wonderful and the clouds were hovering over the distant mountains. 

It is a steep descent as the street makes a big bend, heading toward the lower part of town and the church bell tower. 

You come to a Y-intersection, and stay again to the left, as the yellow arrow on the stone building directs, shown below. 

By the time we arrived at the Iglesia de San Mamés, the sky was awash with color! The dissipating rain clouds had indeed added color to my sunrise sky! I just had to slow down and take photos of the most glorious sky that I had seen thus far on this Camino!

After the church, stay left at the next two intersections and get onto this street shown below. We continued to descend steeply as we continued our walk through this quaint town. 

By about 2/3 kilometer into the day, you see the sign marking the end of town. Good-bye, beautiful place!

Next, you continue down the hill on the wall-lined road for about another kilometer, as the countryside opens up and you can see the ridges ahead that you will be climbing soon! The motorway, the A-52 is in the river valley just below you and to your left. 

At a huge hairpin turn, at kilometer 1.1 follow the pink sign and turn right into the forest, and toward your next destination, the Santuario de la Tuiza. 

As you walk along the lovely, forested secondary road, the descent toward the river valley continues. Along this rather steep descent on the pavement, my left knee was acting up a bit. I hoped that this was not an omen of things to come. 

The lichen and the moss through here is thick and amazing. 

While it looks peaceful here, eventually we could hear the motorway in the valley to our left, and even catch glimpses of it. The huge viaducts rose above the ground, as engineering marvels. 

Our Camino path drops all the way to the valley floor and crosses the Río Tuela on this footbridge after 2.0 kilometers into the day on the Camino Sanabrés from Lubián to A Gudiña.

Thus ends the descent, and the bridge marks the start of the 4.5 kilometer climb.

The road on the other side of the river walks under the viaduct! 

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After walking under the viaduct, almost immediately come to an intersection with a mojón, after about 2.4 kilometers. It appears that you should pass to the right of the mojón (216.127 kilometer waymark) and walk up the hill, but that is incorrect. Do not go straight and climb up along the highway!!  

The correct way is to stay left at this intersection and walk by the side of the Ermita de Santuario de la Tuiza, and turn left in the front of it, below. There is another, older waymark in front of the church. 

This 18th century Baroque church has a gorgeous belltower to admire. We lingered only a moment, with the big climb ahead of us.

The Way from here is on paths until the next town of A Canda, for more than 5.5 kilometers. The waymarking on the path is good, and it would be almost impossible to get lost. You will see wooden signs and rocks with yellow arrows and concrete mojones to guide you. 

We now followed in the path of the Arroyo de la Tuiza. Initially, after the ermita, you will cross a boggy area, shown below, that is improved with pavers. It would be very tricky to do this section in the dark, because if you stepped off a paver, you would have sopping wet boots! And it is very rocky as well. 

After about 3.0 kilometers cross the stream on a footbridge shown here. 

After the crossing, the path joins a lane coming from the left. It’s not long until it begins its serious climbing, below. The waymark says 213.954. 

The forest Way through here is lovely, but not as quiet as it could be. Watch out for remnants of the ancient road. We could hear sounds from the motorway, now on our right, and could see glimpses of it through any clearing in the trees. 

After almost 5.0 kilometers into the day, after a strong bend to the right, or eastward, we crossed this gorgeous little stream.

Not quite 200 meters later, the way takes another strong bend, this time to the left, or westward and you now get this open mountain and motorway view.

Here is another view in a clearing near the top of the climb to the Alto da Canda, at a prominent power line cut, after about 6.0 kilometers. Our pilgrim group was close together, talking, laughing and encouraging one another to the top, not far away now!

We had overtaken another group of Spanish pilgrims, moving only a little slower than us. When I reached the top, I looked down and got this lovely pilgrim's salute from one of them!

At the top, it is about 6.5 kilometers from the start of the day. The mist was rolling in. 

This high point is called the Alto da Canda, at 1262 meters (4140 feet), along the border between the provinces of Castilla y León and Galicia. At the border was this lovely carved marker by Nicanor Carballo, letting us know that we were entering Galicia at last!

One of the Spanish pilgrims offered to take a photo of our group, between the Camino de Santiago map and the Galicia border marker. We were happy to be here, with the big climb under our belts. 

There is a look-out area with a fountain and benches at the top, but the visibility was not that good, and the weather did not invite us to linger for very long. We set off from the western side, guided by this waymarking shown below. 

For some reason, the waymark now has a kilometer figure of 246.035, when the last one we saw was 213-something. What is that about? Does Galicia have its own waymarking system? The mojones look the same as before. But that's a 33-kilometer discrepancy!

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The descent on lanes like below is as steep as the ascent from the other side and the vistas abound. 

By 7.88 kilometers, you come to a nice picnic area in the next small village of A Canda which only consists of a few buildings. The Spaniards decided to take a break here, but we were going to push on to the next town of A Vilavella where there is a café. The Café On had advertised on the path before the top, so we knew for sure that there was one ahead. 

Here in town, the road is now paved, as you walk through a small cluster of buildings, below, and pass the village chapel, the Capilla de Santo Cristo.

Next, walk on the road out of town for about one more kilometer, below. Along this road the A-52 motorway is up the bank to the right. 

About 8.8 kilometers, there is a large Camino sign that directs you to the left, off the roadway and onto a set of stairs, leading you down a steep descent. Here is Rich negotiating the steps. 

Despite the continued steep descent, the path through here is nicely improved.

Shortly, the path parallels a set of railroad tracks and crosses a bridge with a fountain and a pilgrim sculpture on it, not pictured. By about 9.2 kilometers, you come to this tunnel and walk under the tracks.  

At kilometer 10.1 the Camino drops down and crosses a bridge across the Regueiro das Hortas, the next drainage.

The lane turns to pavement just before A Vilavella. Soon after entering town, after about 11 kilometers, you come to the turnoff for the bar, shown below. If you don't need the bar, you can continue on straight here. From the photo below, you can see the direction we are going! The bar is only about a two block detour, off-Camino in the direction of the very charming village church, the Capilla de Santo Cristo. We enjoyed our stop at this town bar. 

After A Vilavella you will be on more pathways for the next 3.4 kilometers until the pavement of the next town of O Pereiro.

Just after leaving the village, the walk takes you down steeply on a path with stepping stones, shown below and across a stream on the bridge shown next. You know you are in Galicia when the Camino is lined with stepping stones!

As always, after dropping into a drainage, you have to climb back out on the other side. On this climb, there looks to be remnants of an ancient walled road. 

This is a lovely forested Way through parts of this section and the Camino now follows the pathway of the Río Abredo, adding a nice babbling sound to your walk at times. 

After approximately 14.5 kilometers, you reach the outskirts of the next town at this darling little country church the Ermita de Nosa Señora de Loreto. 

By about 200 meters later and at kilometer 14.7, you cross the OU-311 road to enter the town of O Pereiro.

Surprisingly, there are no services in O Pereiro. I was really glad we had stopped in A Vilavella.

The town is a long strip along the main road, a bit more than 1/2 kilometer and the Camino takes no turns but walks straight on through it. There is a large picnic pavilion about half way through if you want to take a break.

The town felt a bit stark to me, however, we did walk by some eye-catching buildings on the western edge of town, below. 

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After leaving O Pereiro, it is about 4.7 kilometers of walking on paths to the pavement in the next town of O Cañizo.

The recurrent theme through this section is to walk in the open, then drop to a more protected drainage, only to get back out into the open again. It is exposed through here, and any serious weather could be a bit of a problem.

The next photo depicts the beginning of these paths and lanes. And recently, there has been a fire and you can see traces of it everywhere. 

After 15.8 kilometers we came to this funky stepping-stone bridge, at the first drainage. 

As we climbed up and out of the drainage and into this exposed area for the beginning of the second climb of the day, below, of course it started raining! And in the most exposed area too! (On the original walk it was raining - the photo is more recent.)

It looked like burnt out moor-land through here. We encountered a herd of sheep and several large sheep dogs, but they were only curious and did not bother us. 

Next, we dropped a little to this second drainage and crossed a stream at about kilometer 17.3, below. 

300 meters later, cross the third drainage, not pictured, at the 235.021 kilometer waymark. (And yes, the mojones are still counting down from 246!)

You can see the open exposure of this next segment, below, as we got higher into the climb. The rain was only a drizzle, fortunately, so it served the purpose of keeping us cool, rather than soaking us.

After kilometer 18.3, you come out to a paved road, the OU-0953. Here is where you turn right to walk on it, but only briefly for a bit more than 100 meters. 

On the brief roadway walk, you pass over these railroad tracks.

After crossing the railroad, you pick up a side road to the right, shown below, and follow it a few meters, crossing back over the OU-0953 to continue straight via another path. Things are a bit flatter through here, and not much climbing remains. It indeed feels like you are on top of the world.

After crossing the railroad, you pick up a side road to the right, pictured below, and follow it a few meters, crossing back over the OU-0953 to continue straight via another path. Things are a bit flatter through here, and not much climbing remains. It indeed feels like you are on top of the world. 

Next we followed a nice tractor lane for about 1.2 kilometers. I was happy to be on the flatter area now because I was feeling a bit congested in my chest. I had to dig deeply through here, because with only a few kilometers to go, I was tired and hungry. I felt like I hadn't eaten enough during the day. My left knee felt OK, but my right toes felt hot. It just felt to me like we were all pushing very hard. Or maybe, it was because Rich and Miguel were ahead so far, and walking faster, that I felt pushed.

I was happy that our next day would be shorter, at 20 kilometers. Miguel was already talking about doing a long day, of about 38 kilometers. No way was I doing that many kilometers the next day!

After 19.8 kilometers, you take a left hand turn onto this lane, below, to head towards O Cañizo. 

Enter into the town, pictured here, another place that is a long strip of buildings along the main road. There are also no services in this town. 

There are frequent concrete waymarks to follow through here, one telling you to turn left by an antique fountain. In addition there are plenty of blue shell waymarks on the walls, with yellow arrows.

As you walk through the lengthy strip of town, below, you are actually still gaining in elevation. 

You walk by a lovely little picnic area, under a tree, with the town church as the backdrop if you wish to linger and have a bite to eat. 

After about 20.7 kilometers, you come to this sweet sign, below, directing you to the left and towards A Gudiña, now only about 3.4 kilometers from here! 

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From the signpost, there is still a small amount of elevation gain to accomplish. 

Walk about another 170 meters more on a dirt tractor lane that leaves town. Take the first right hand turn onto another lane heading northward.

After only 100 meters or so, come to the N-525 and cross over it, staying to the left at the Mino auto shop, and onto a paved lane. After about 200 meters more, now cross over the A-52 on a bridge. At this bridge, you are now at the high-point after 21.2 kilometers approximately. It is all downhill into A Gudiña from here, for the final approach of 2.8 kilometer.

Immediately after crossing the A-52 highway bridge, take a left turn onto a frontage lane, following a parallel path with the highway, see photo below. You will walk along this lane for about one kilometer. 

The frontage lane starts out relatively smoothly, then becomes rough and very eroded. At the end of the long day, it was interesting picking our way down this very steep grade. I wasn’t sure this was better than climbing!

Next you will see an exit ramp that you will now follow, continuing on the frontage lane, which is actually the exit ramp for the N-525 into A Gudiña. 

As you descend steeply, photo below, you can see a bank of solar panels on the next hill ahead. That is your next destination.

Follow this well waymarked lane around the back of the solar panels.  You are at 22.5 kilometers total when you reach the solar panels, with only 1.5 kilometers left to the center of town (the albergue is another 300 meters farther).

Just beyond the solar bank, an amazing view of A Gudiña displays itself before you. Unfortunately the view is from a black slag pile, before rejoining the N-525, shown below. But the view itself is more interesting, because you can see day eight’s destination, the ridge in the upper right hand corner of the photo!

After walking past the slag pile on the lane, the Camino descends parallel to the N-525 as it weaves around industrial buildings for its final approach into town.

Eventually the Way joins the N-525, where there is a safe sidewalk for the pilgrim to walk, and into the center of A Gudiña. Almost as soon as you join the sidewalk, there are two very economical family-run establishments on the east side of town that you will pass, below. First is the Hostal A Madrileña (+34 696 22 61 70) and just up the hill a few more steps is the Pensión Restaurante Óscar de Menes (+34 988 42 10 14). The pensión has no website. You must either call or stop by.

It is only about 700 meters on the main road, before the waymark for the next turn appears. It is important to note that if you are walking onward, the Camino stays to the right of the gray building at this intersection, below and onto the concrete road you see here, parallel to the N-525. There is not one, but two carved concrete waymarks in front of the gray building, and a water fountain behind it.

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If you are going to the municipal albergue, continue onward along the N-525, past this intersection shown above, and about another 300 meters. However, it is much more quaint to take the more pleasant parallel lane to the right, the Rúa Maior.

After 300 meters along the Rúa Maior, you will arrive in the Plaza Maior, below. This is where the two Camino Sanabrés routes diverge. Notice the dual waymarks behind the cross. This is where the day ends and day eight begins. 

This is the bifurcation of the Camino, with the Way to the left being the Camino Sanabrés por Verín, the southerly variation that I mapped here, the southernmost route in orange. We were taking the standard route to the right, por Laza.

The waymark "Por Laza" says only 197.108 kilometers to Santiago! What is this kilometer figure?? It appears that we were back on track with the correct kilometer countdown! Ha ha. No way we walked over 30 kilometers from the last waymark figure! The mojones from the top of the Canda pass to this one in Lubián must have been misprints, but they used them anyway! Too funny! I wonder how many pilgrims even notice?

For the albergue, turn left here at the Plaza Maior, and within a few steps, pass the town church and arrive at the N-525 once again. The albergue is to the left a few steps, just across the street. 

This is the only albergue in town, the municipal Albergue de Peregrinos Casa da Viúva. It is in a newly restored historic, 2-story building, right in the center of town, across from the town church. It has 44 beds, a kitchen with no pots, pans, plates nor utensils, but it has a washer and dryer. It is perhaps the nicest albergue I’ve been in. The dormitories have partitions, with 2 bunks in each, allowing for a bit more privacy in a very large room.  

Also farther along the main road, by about 1/2 kilometer from the albergue and clustered together is the Hotel Restaurante Bruma (+34 988 42 11 21) and the Hotel Restaurante Suizo (+34 988 42 10 66). 

As usual we were starving when we entered town, and by the time we cleaned up and washed our clothes, siesta was in full swing. However, the pilgrim-friendly Café Bar Nicoya, right by the albergue, does not close for siesta! They made us delicious and giant hamburgers, when none of the other kitchens were open. We made their efforts worthwhile, with the five of us drinking lots and eating to our hearts content. 

Reflections on Day Seven of the Camino Sanabrés, Lubián to A Gudiña

My knee actually held up well for the day, never giving me much more than a slight complaining twinge, and then only infrequently. I was not worried about it at the end of the day.

As stated earlier, this day was more strenuous-feeling for me than most. Although not all that long, I had to dig deeply, I believe for several reasons. I had failed to honor what I knew about myself and I didn't eat sufficient amounts for the day. I also tried to carry the fresh, young and new energy of Miguel as he walked stronger and faster than all of us.

When push comes to shove, I was learning that I really didn't like to walk alone. I didn't mind the absence of conversation, as long as the silence was accompanied by another individual! Ha! 

My social husband was walking more quickly, ahead with Miguel and it just felt like I had to keep up, I guess. I could have walked slower and lingered with Nadine and Norm, however, that didn't feel right either. Perhaps it was merely a matter of ego, but for whatever reason, I arrived in A Gudiña quite spent. 

My clouds for the day brought lovely color in the morning, but by the end of the day, no brilliance was left ~ only grayness and drizzle remained. And so it was ~ as it often is on the Camino, until Descanso (rest) and Comida (food) revived this pilgrim's soul once again. (Both with a Capital letter!)

After all, a pilgrim must get up and do it all over again the next day. And "tomorrow" would be the biggest challenge yet on our Camino. 

Salutation

May your own clouds on your day seven of the Camino Sanabrés from Lubián to A Gudiña come floating into your Way to add color to your sky! May you truly see the brilliance that is there for you if you dare to "see." Ultreia!

Camino Fonseca Stages

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