Day 43 - walking to the end of the world and back again ( 17km)

This morning after a nice breakfast I set out to walk to Finisterre. As I left the albergue I saw a large dog by the side of the road and then two others. I took a deep breath because I knew just because I was not far away it could still be challenging walk. The first dog looked at me for a while and then went off the side. The two others met me at the spot where the dirt path started so I had to walk past them. As I approached one of the dogs ran ahead and then disappeared. The third was staring at me and came towards me and I was quite scared. As he got closer I pet him and he stepped back and came back to me. I realized that he only wanted to be petted and was not going to hurt me.

I was walking quite quickly because I had an arrangement to pick up my Fisterra certificate at the albergue before noon and I thought I had to meet someone as well. As I got closer to the first beach in my head I thought my camino makes a small detour here. It was about 9:30am and I could still see my breath, so I started to run to be a little warm. Having now been walking for about six weeks I feel like I have been shedding layers, opening up to others and that is what I did before running into the icy water. I loved how the crashing waves raced to meet me and the water felt so invigorating for about five minutes and I decided I better dry off. I walked quickly because that is how you stay warm when you are wet and I eventually got to Finisterre. I was side tracked by another beach and I walked along the edge of the water letting the waves race to meet my feet. I arrived a little late, so I decided to spend the night.

During the afternoon I walked out to the lighthouse climbing first to the top of Monte San Guillermo and was treated to an incredible view. When I got to the lighthouse I walked past it to sit on some rocks next to the remains of some charred hiking boots. I didn´t feel the need to burn my clothes or boots. I was told it smells awful and that there had been some problems with the forest fires. My boots seem to have finally reconciled with my feet and I might want to walk some more in the future. I sat there and wrote about my day. I had the crazy thought that the three dogs I met this morning in some ways represent three people I met during this camino. In other ways they represent my fears of getting hurt and the unknown. It was at that moment I decided my walking stick was like my security blanket and I threw it into the ocean.

As I walked back into town I knew my pilgrimmage was over and I was a little sad, but the night earlier I was told I should cry for important things and some things are really just important to me. I have shed a lot of tears on this trip maybe unnecessarily, but today I just stared out at the ocean. The clouds that had temporarily covered the sun cleared and I was back in the sunshine. I find it exciting to think that I have now walked over 800km accross an entire country.

This morning while walking on the beach I picked up a small scallop shell. I like it because it is not perfect like me, but still quite beautiful.