Walking in the Rain

Hiking Day 16    Comillas to San Vicente de la Barquera

Miles    7.7

Total miles    209.1

Ascent    510’

Descent    587’

 Looks like our good weather streak will end today! After 15 hiking days without getting rained on, we awake this morning to a steady rainfall outside our hotel room window. Just before 9 we head out the door wearing full rain gear and warm gloves with a mitten “rainproof” outer shell. It is raining just enough to be very annoying…the kind of rain where you get wet, but very slowly, and you sense that it indeed is progressing.

We leave the town of  Camillas and once again we have a choice of routes…a route that veers inland and is marked with the usual yellow painted Camino arrow, or the coastal route which is unmarked at the starting intersection but is shown on our GPS app to follow the coast for most of today’s walk. We again opt for the coastal route although it appears to be a tad longer.

For a reason unknown to us, Mac’s Adventure has us scheduled to hike less than 8 miles today. Far below our average daily journey and not the pace we need to get us to Santiago by May 17th. Could they have known it would be rainy today?

                        Manure cart being pulled by cows. Notice that the closer cow has a plastic garbage bag             covering his eye on the road side. Makeshift blinder so the cow does not get spooked by cars whizzing by.

Instead of letting up, the rain slowly increases and the wind starts picking up. It is a tough day to take photos and of course the photos never seem to show the falling rain. 

                                 The town of San Vicente de la Barquera in the distance.

By 4 miles the rain is almost horizontal and the winds are blustery. It is no longer just annoying, but is now downright unpleasant. Scot spots the first coffee shop of the day and we head to the door to take a break and retreat from the rain and wind. The door is locked!! Disappointed, we trudge onward as gale force winds pummel us and I can feel my rain gear beginning to develop issues. The road goes downhill off of the high bluff we are on and we get some protection from the winds.

        The northern coast of Spain is very popular are for surfing. The beaches are teeming with surfers and surf shops abound, especially in San Vicente.

Finally we reach the edge of San Vicente de la Barquera, the coastal town where we will spend the night. Finding an open coffee shop we dash inside. It is open but no one is inside. A few “Hola’s” produces an employee from some back room. We order coffee and take off the wet rain gear. My jacket has held up fairly well but my hiking pants are soaked in the front from just below the waist to the cuffs and my gloves have to have the water wrung from them.

The rain pants, which I wore almost daily on the Colorado Trail and loved, have now failed miserably. I am very concerned as I know that today will not be the only rainy day ahead of us!

We finish coffee and reluctantly head out for the last 2 miles to the hotel. The rain eases a bit and the winds subside some. We reach our hotel just before noon after a hike of only 7.7 miles. Today we will not complain about the low mileage….anything to get us out of the weather. Plus we can already check in and our suitcases are waiting for us! Time for dry clothes!

The afternoon will be sort of like a rest day…doing sink laundry, decorating the room with wet clothes in need of drying, and searching for a cafe lunch, beer, and more coffee (to warm us). This morning was our coolest start so far and was only in the upper 40’s at departure. It looks like one more day of rain tomorrow and maybe sunny on Monday. We are over the 200 mile mark with just 300 or so to go. We need to pick up the pace mileage wise.