Day 30: Foncebadon - Ponferrada (4/30/14)

In an attempt to avoid the busloads of 'tourists' that reportedly flock to the Cruz de Ferro, 

increasing in numbers as the morning progresses, 

most of us left shortly before sunrise. 

We were hoping for quiet, 

for some reverence, 

for uninterrupted time with our thoughts - 

and our stones -

before leaving them forever.

As we climbed up to the Cross ,

on a path running parallel with the road,

we realized we hadn't factored in the weather 

and early morning realities at this altitude. 

As we approached the site and the base came into view,

the cross itself couldn't be seen;

it was totally obscured by fog.

As disappointing as it was,

it somehow also seemed fitting.

Sometimes in life, all you get is the foot of the cross.

You can't see for yourself;

all you get is the evidence of others faith -

and sometimes, the proof that so many others before you believed 

is enough to pull you through.

I had seen so many signs for myself that I didn't need to see the Cross now;

it was enough to trust it was there;

it was enough to add my stone 

to the thousands of others placed there by pilgrims 

who had gone before me.

I waited as others took the time they needed;

and, when my time came, I took my stone in hand, walked up 

and prayed with it one last time.

As I was standing there, a woman from the albergue came up to me, 

apologized for interrupting and quietly

asked for my camera and told me not to move for a few minutes.

When I came back down, she showed me that as I was placing my stone, 

the fog lifted and the Cross came into view.

I sat for a while on the side of the Chapel crying -

but the tears tasted different this time;

I didn't have the sense of enveloping heaviness from the preceding days.

 I can't tell you how much lighter my backpack felt as I left.

I practically flew down the mountain...

well, it took the rest of the day - 

but, trust me, I was flying!

It occurred to me as I walked down that I might have had my 'mountaintop' experience.

It was hard to believe that, given the intensity of the past few days,

anything else would even come close.