Sometimes You Meet the Devil Along the Way

None of these folks were the devil

Walking out of Pointe de Lima this morning there was this man (center) known all along the Camino Portuguese. He stamps your credential

then has you write in chalk what number pilgrim you are (I was pilgrim 45,087) and he ceremoniously rings a bell to mark the event.

 This is the number of pilgrims he has greeted since  2021, when he began counting. He remembers the day he began, that it was a Saturday in August and there was a wedding and the whole wedding party walked past him that day

Shortly after our encounter a walk through the park

 across the (partially Roman) Ponte do Arco de Geia bridge over the river Labruja 

and into the countryside 

Today is considered one of the most difficult climbs on the Portuguese. You know it's gonna be steep

and then you find out it's gonna be rocky

and when the arrow points up, which it almost never does, you know something strenuous is coming

That's when you meet the devil

But, nah, you say to yourself, this trail was meant for me today!

Then it gets long

It gets tedious 

and goes up relentlessly

It gets harder

and a little scary 

and you wonder if maybe a taxi wouldn't be such a bad idea 

But this is what you miss...

The complete surprise food truck just as you crest the top and a conversation with a lovely woman who speaks only Portuguese and serves cold drinks

The camaraderie, stories and laughter at the top with those who climbed it along side you.

The treehouse, right in the middle of the whole thing, up a long set of stairs because, well, you might not have gotten enough climbing in for the day

and the views

but also the sweetest juiciest seeded purple grapes left just for you on a bench near the end of the trail

Devil, you can try me again tomorrow