The descent from El Acebo is the scariest, the most difficult, I’ve ever encountered. It’s very steep, over loose stone in some places. Every muscle in my body is being called into play. If I could turn around and go back up to the start to grab a taxi, I would. However, trying to go back up would be even more difficult than continuing downward. I’m afraid, but deep inside know I can do it. I have to. There is no choice. (Later I learned that more than one pilgrim has fallen on these rocks and arrived a bloody mess at the next town. That’s why, as I also later learned, there is an alternate – and highly recommended — route which runs alongside the highway.)  I now know that I can do anything. Absolutely anything. There is nothing that I cannot do. Yep, I am unstoppable.

Once in Ponferrado I meet up again with Amy. I tour the Castle of the Knights Templar and learn of its history. The Order of the Knights Templar was a military order endorsed by the Catholic Church. In 1178 it set up headquarters in this castle to protect pilgrims on their way to Santiago.