I woke up excited and left the albergue at 6:30 AM

The day started off nice, but heavy rain hit after a few hours

The past few days had been rainy, so my shoes didn’t dry overnight

The crowd was definitely noticeable today

Leaving Samos, we followed the arrows onto a poorly maintained, sketchy trail

I left the albergue around 6:25 AM after a rough night with lots of coughing, snoring, and the smell of damp socks from the rain

I’d heard that the climb to O Cebreiro is the second toughest after the Pyrenees

The weather forecast wasn’t great, with rain expected throughout the day

I planned to leave early, but my hiking pole was in a locked area that wouldn’t open until 7 AM

I left at 6:45 to cover as much distance as possible before the heat set in

I started early to avoid walking in the heat