Grado to Salas

Nothing beats getting up bright and early, getting yourself ready for the day with a delicious strudel thing and cafe con leche, paying your gracious host and leaving Grado to be greeted with a huge freaking hill that turned out to be a mountain side.

I was sweating buckets and gasping for breath in about 15 minutes, all dreams of shooting up that hill were shot down with the cold reality of gravity and the burning in the back of my calves and the frantic my god why are you doing this so early heart beat.

I am slow to begin with, but this was a major hurdle, I'm consistent just not fast and the start was really challenging as I went down the side of the mountain, met a young fox who waited patiently for me to pass him rather than darting away, and eventually reached the first big town on the way to Salas. After that and a brief pass by visit to the ruins of the monastery there, its supposed to be inhabited but doesn't look it, I started up my next hill come mountain trail, coming out the other end passing by the beautiful towns called Llamas and Doriga. Then on and on, I picked a spot near a cement quarry where others had settled in for lunch to eat, tuna in sunflower oil and bread isn't much but on that trail it was food of the Gods. I also got a coffee from a conveniently placed vending machine. There was even one in the side of some pioneering Spaniards barn.

Took off my boots and assessed the damage as I re-vasalined my feet.

The right foot pad had a nice little blister where the soft skin of the toes meet. Ironically walking was a comfort, as it hurt more when I'd stop for long periods. I also changed into a pair of dry socks, my ones from the morning with the wet still inside the boot and sweat had become damp. Though my body heat had managed to dry parts of the boot leather.

People that I stopped with took off, people I'd passed caught up, relatively we were no more than 20 minutes behind each other or ahead, one stop here or there and boom back ahead or trailing behind.

On my way through the woods I found a boon, a stick well shaped as a walking staff so I took that with me.

Its got a bit of moss at the end, which if it survives the trip, I will return to a woodlands somewhere.

I got to Salas, bought blister pads for tomorrow and Ibuprofen, had a coffee and weighed my options, I could have continued but three mountain peaks had let to diminishing returns, plus my left foot pad started to feel a bit sore too, so I checked in to this great hostel by the church.

Did my laundry, boy did my pants get caked in mud, and cooked some dinner, vegetables and pasta stew with chorizo, humble but amazing.

The patron of the place has been exceedingly kind too, and I got to try Asturian cidre, poured from head height into a glass waist high to give it air.

Just a quick shower and then bed.

On to Tineo tomorrow or beyond.

Thanks to my patrons Brendan Mills, Renee Rushbrook, Carlos Ara.