Ain’t No Mountain High Enough

CAMINO FRANCÉS – Day 26: Sunday 4 May 2025 – VILLAFRANCA del BIERZO to O’CEBREIRO (29 [+2] kilometres)

Today’s was a testing walk, with a sting in the tail. The first three quarters of the path follows a gravel track heading gently up the verdant valley of the Rio Valcarce and, whilst running parallel to the N-V1, the road is seemingly used most infrequently on a Sunday morning, and the twists and turns of its route through the valley add constant interest. However, this long but straightforward ramble is really just a prelude to the start of a 700-metre climb up to O’Cebreiro that we would meet at the small town of Las Herrerias, about five hours and 22 kilometres into the day’s trek. Such a long and steep ascent, on a wet and slippery rocky track, is enough to tax even the fittest of walkers at the end of a long day on the trail.

As I crossed the 1,150 metre contour, towards the end of today’s climb, I reached the small village of Laguna de Castilla, and stopped for a few minutes to catch my breath, rest my legs, and take on some water. This small place is clearly proud of its inclusion within Castilla and León, the largest province of Spain. But just up the track, on the way to O’Cebreiro, the Camino Francés passes into the neighbouring region of Galicia, a province that comprises the north-west portion of the country, and through which my path now runs, all the way to Santiago de Compostela. The county boundary represents more than just a name-change, as Galicia has distinct traditions and a special character all of its own, that is striking from the moment one arrives at the hill village of O’Cebreiro just over the border. The buildings share something with those on Dartmoor in the feel of their dark stone, but the circular design and straw thatch of many dwellings and communal buildings are of a kind, termed locally as pallozas, that I have not seen elsewhere. I hope that tomorrow, assuming the rain stops, I will get a chance to explore further and be able to share a few more pictures of this special area.

With the hard work of the day now completed, I am resting up in an albergue in O’Cebreiro, at an altitude of just over 1,300 metres above sea level. The host had a private room available, and having this space and privacy is quite a treat in an albergue, and this has given me the opportunity of a full ‘unpacking and re-sorting’ of my meagre possessions, a chance to get on top of all my washing, and the time to plan my final week of walking. My luck with the weather continues, as my seven o’clock start meant that I arrived here by mid-afternoon, barely half an hour before a heavy thunderstorm hit the village. I like to think that you make your own luck, or at least that one can load the dice as favourably as possible, but I am certainly glad that I was not caught out in the violent and wet mountain conditions of the later afternoon.

Today’s Blog heading ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ follows the title of a 1967 duet by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, that charted again in 1970 when covered by former Supremes frontwoman Diana Ross (becoming her first solo Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100). The song was written by husband and wife writing team Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson in 1966 for the Tamla label, a division of Motown.