Remember how I was going to take it easy and act like I’m on vacation. Today the Camino wouldn’t let me. I “only” went 16 miles but it was a difficult 16 miles. If this is an indication of the difficulty of the Camino dos Faros (Camino of the Lighthouses), I’m in for 7 more tough days.

I started out by coming from Finisterre up over that mountain in the back, down to the beach (very fine, soft sand…difficult to walk in), and up onto this mountain. An hour in and I was drenched in sweat.

Every mile today was a struggle. I had to use my hands to scramble over some rocks, navigate some steep up and downs, and try not to slip and fall while walking along the edges of some sheer cliffs. On an AT difficultly scale, today was at least a 7.

This is a good view back to Fisterra (left) and out to Finisterre on the point. It’s really a pretty narrow piece of land.

I took more pictures today than any other day. 2-3 times more than average. That will tell you what I thought of the scenery.

Even the easy parts were a bit rocky.

If you would happen to slip and fall here, you wouldn’t tumble far. That brush is thick, gnarly, and sharp. Would have been a good day for long pants if a person had them. The brush scraped my legs up pretty good.

I saw virtually no people today. 6 or 7 pilgrims, 4 day hikers, wait staff and patrons at 2 bar/restaurants I passed, and one lady who was yelling at me that I turned the wrong way (she was right).

Bottom line is I have no “Hola” smile of the day. I’ve been posting that pic each day on Facebook and Instagram. I’m going to put a pic on there today that was from weeks ago (before I started the daily thing). Those people will never know the difference so don’t rat me out!!

I might not have seen many humans but I did see a herd of wild (I’m guessing) goats. Look closely they are scattered all over this pic.

This is some of the finest sand beaches and clearest water I’ve seen on the trek. These are also some very remote beaches.

The sand is so fine and soft I sink in 2-3” every step. My shoes also filled up with about a lb of sand each on this stretch. Those are my footsteps, FYI.

I feel this rugged coastline scenery is just incredible.

Walk across the beach, climb the hill, go down the hill, repeat.

I’m headed for that teeny, tiny town across the water.

I found a trail app that I am using for this portion of hike. It works fairly well but sucks up a lot of battery.

At one point I got off the trail by less than 20’ but I knew that at some point I had to get back on because there was a river crossing. I found a place where I could see the trail. It was about 6’ below me on what appeared to be a slope overgrown with vegetation.

It was overgrown with vegetation but it was not a slope, it was a drop off! Hard to tell in picture but after one step I was in thorny vegetation above my waist. It took me 10 minutes to get out. I couldn’t lift my legs and feet high enough to step out so had to use my knees to push brush down enough so I could step on and over. Once again, long pants would be awesome. My legs have small cuts and scratches everywhere.

Rolled into Nemina about 3:30. A restaurant but no lodging.

Had something to eat and then walked a ways out of town. I’ve got my tent set up on someone’s land. It’s pasture with no animals in it…I hope. I’m as unobtrusive and low visibility as I can be. Hopefully no problem.

Happy trails and buen Camino!