El Acebo – Ponferrada

Thursday 2nd May 2024

16.3 km  25.030 steps

That was a very long 16.3 km.  The first half of today’s walk was steep and rocky and required a lot of concentration. It was very slow going, but beautiful, though.  I had to keep stopping so I could look up and admire the scenery.   There was lots of lavender growing everywhere as well as many flowering shrubs.  Lots of colour today.

The second half of the walk was mostly boring with a long slow climb out of Molinaseca.  I wasn’t expecting any major ascents today, so I was a bit surprised.   The funny thing is that on the elevation map on my Relive app, it doesn’t look like there’s much of  a climb….. well, there is.

I arrived in Ponferrada.   This is where you can start the Camino Inverno from.  I did consider taking that route from here, but I changed my mind.

There is the massive Knights Templar Castle here.  It was built in 1178 to protect the pilgrims walking to Santiago di Compostela.  There is some really interesting history about the Knights Templar.   You can Google that if you’re interested.

The predicted rain only just started to spit as I arrived in town, and the snow didn’t arrive at all.  I’m certainly glad there was no rain or snow for today’s tricky descent.

That was the easy bit of the track.

Accommodation

Hostal Rio Salmo $66 AUD.

Nice fairly large.  It’s hotel clean.  I can’t the heating warm enough