It’s best when you can rely on the company you keep. Three of us left our hill top refugio at Los Santos at 4:15 this morning. Julio, a 56 year old electrician, played it dangerous and left solo five minutes ahead of us. Just minutes later, we watched as still in town and visible on the street ahead of us Julio went astray taking a wrong turn. Unable to get his attention, we would see him again only hours later when he caught up with us from behind. We were resting. Our common goal was Torremejia, 43.5 kilometers of soon to be sun blasted earth, stony path, and gravel road ahead of us. We would see two more Perseid shooting stars before daybreak. With the dawn, morning cool gives way to solar radiation and bake oven heat. We would tramp like Bedouins always flanked by grape vineyards or olive trees. Heat hardened hombres would spray pesticides on the wine makings at our shoulders by the hour. We don’t do too badly. In the shading hedge of the only farm stead we will see for hours, a woman strikes up a conversation with us and gives us bottled water and a garden hosing down. We drag our happy selves into Torremejia (KM 204.5) at three o’clock sun burnt crisp. We, Manuel, Miguel, Julio, and I, are “brethren” of the Pilgrim road. We need each other and must stand and walk together.
