Day 24
“The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain?” I’m guessing Professor Higgins was wrong about that so I took the opportunity of my rest day in Leon today to gear up!
The weather turned on me about 3 days ago, on the very long old Roman road (their favorite route for transporting gold from Galicia to Rome) between Calzadilla de los Hermanillos and Mansilla de las Mulas. (Aren’t these names great?) Right after sunrise, a delicate little sprinkle popped the dust in front of me, then another - and within 5 minutes I was hiding under a tree digging out all my rain gear. That little storm was a good test as it was the first we’ve had since DAY 1. The weather has been SO good on this Camino the rule is this: the weather is like Voldemort. Do not speak its name. It might hear you.
On day one, our over-the-mountain day that was still in France, it started to rain about 9 am and didn’t stop until 3pm. I smugly thought I had come prepared and whipped out my half tarp thing that went over me and the backpack. It reached to just above the knee on me and had snaps that connected under the arms and at some other random areas. In the wind on the mountain those snaps blew apart in about 2 miles and I had to mess with them constantly to get the little buggers to stay in place. I ended up tying the ends together, 80s t-shirt style, rather than deal with the snaps, and then dumping it in the hostel the next morning in the “don’t want to carry this anymore” box. (My donation was the least weird thing in there, by the way.)
So on the Roman road the other day I tried the new strategy of separate protection for me and the backpack - a Nike rain coat for humans and a Deuter pack cover for my backpack. Backpack stayed completely dry. The human however...
Leon is a bigger city and a perfect place for plugging holes in the gear list so I really let it rip today. My new rain tarp is awesome! It goes over me and the backpack and is so long it reaches my shins and doesn’t need any dumb snaps. It smells like new tires and makes a constant gently-rustling-leaves sound as I move around. Is this what it feels like to find the perfect prom dress?!
I also scored some “gaters”, those things that go over your shins and ankles to keep the rain off your socks. I got a big stocking hat too to supplement my ugly pink headband thing. Some of my pilgrim buddies are in a WhatsApp message group with me, and because most of them are a few days ahead of me now I get see what it’s going to be like down the road when everybody makes their daily reports. (I adore these. “Such and such hostel sucks.” “Ernesto left his blue socks in Astorga, who is passing through today?” “This guy (picture) snores BIG TIME. Avoid the dorms he stays at!”) The news from WhatsApp this morning was SNOW in Froncebadon. SNOW. There is no My Fair Lady song about snow in Spain?!
I’ve got all the right bits and pieces now though so I should be well prepared for whatever the rest of the plains and Galicia have in store for me. I’m getting a pretty good deal if you think about it - I’ll be in here just six weeks and I get to see Spanish summer, fall, and winter all one go!