We all slept well. It was cold and no heating but we all had a blanket as well as our sleeping bags which was enough to keep us warm.
We went across the street to our friendly restaurant for breakfast at about 7:00 and were on the road in the rain by 7:;20.
We headed up hill and decided that since the weather was so bad we would take the road rather than the trail but somehow I got far ahead of Werner and Josef and missed a turn. I waited for them in a café but finally they answered Josef's cell phone and said they were only about 1 km from the top of the pass. I was still at least 5 km from there so I set off up the Camino trail which was shorter than the road.
Immediately the rain turned to snow and it became foggy.
I continued up the path in deeper and deeper snow and slush. It was quite steep and I was glad I had my trekking poles since the path was narrow and at times there was a steep drop off to the left.
They called me once and told me they were waiting in a café called Laguna. I never passed one with this name and after about 1.5 hours in the snow I arrived at a place that I assumed was Laguna. There was a café and when I asked if this was Laguna I learned that this was O'Cebreiro, the top of the mountain! There was still no answer when I tried to call them so I sent a text message, ordered a hot chocolate and waited. Finally they arrived. The place they thought was 1km from the top was actually more like 4 km from the top but in the fog and the snow and the cold and wet it was difficult for any of us to know where we were or think logically.
On the path in the snow I passed a marker showing that we were now entering Galicia, the final region we will visit during our Camino. I certainly didn't expect that we would enter it under these circumstances. Later we saw on the local TV in the restaurant that snow this late in May was unprecedented in this region.
Anyway, now we were together but all of us were wet and cold and the snow was still falling we decided to start heading down rather than stay and let the wet in our clothes soak in further. We abandoned the trail which was wet, slushy and slippery and set off down the road. A couple of times we were passed by snow ploughs but generally the road was in good shape.
An hour or so later we came to a village with an albergue so went to check it out. It did not open for another 30 minutes but the next option was 4 km further down the road and we decided to wait. We stood around shivering and when it opened we went in, selected our beds and took hot showers. We hung up our wet clothes to dry and all felt better.
The albergue is nice, clean, modern and even has heating for a change. It seems to be an old building with wooden rafters that has been modernized inside. It only has 20 beds all in one room so tonight we will be at the mercy of any snorers. There is a very nice modern kitchen downstairs but no pots, pans, cups, plates or cutlery so really no use since Peregrinos don't carry those things with them. Usually there is a collection of old equipment that looks as if it has been donated by people local in the village. There are a lot of people who like to cook their own meals, sometimes groups shop together and eat together. We looked for a shop in the village but never found one. The snow continued but we were at least warm inside.
Once settled we went into the village found a cozy restaurant for a snack and a bottle of wine and all felt better after one of the most difficult days we have experienced.
Today we only covered 17 km, 11 miles, but considering the conditions we were very pleased with ourselves. Just to get over the mountain in the cold and the snow was a huge effort. We are still slightly ahead of our schedule so no need to try and offset this shorter day with a longer one later on.
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