Stage 9 - Rabanal del camino - Ruitelán

ByTravesía Pirenaica
French Way / Photo: Jynus_ (CC BY-SA 2.5)
French Way / Photo: Jynus_ (CC BY-SA 2.5)
  • Distance: 77.5 km
  • Maximum height: 1499.98 m
  • Minimum height: 474.09 m
  • Positive difference in altitude: 1222.66 m
  • Negative difference in altitude: 1708.12 m

The Way of St. James NINTH STAGE

This is one of those stages that will not leave us indifferent and will begin to show us the greatness and hardness of the road.

Today we will reach the top of the route with the summit of the Iron Cross, and we will begin to glimpse the community of Galicia, which seemed so far away at the beginning of this adventure.

Rabanal del Camino itself is already the first ramp of the ascent, before we know it the road gets harder and 8 and a half kilometres of continuous ascent await us, with a succession of steep sections with others that are less demanding.

Before reaching the mythical iron cross, situated at an altitude of exactly 1500 metres, we will pass through the village of Foncebadon.

This place is a very special place where pilgrims leave a stone as a symbol of abandoning the negative things we bring with us; I won't tell you more about it and let you discover it for yourselves.

After a short descent we reach the small village of Manjarin, a peculiar place due to its medieval hostel and the Templar hospitalero who runs it.

From here after a short ascent we start the beautiful and fast descent to the town of Molinaseca (km 21) passing through the villages of Acebo and riego de Ambrós, during the descent we can enjoy the beautiful images of the valley of El Bierzo; observing Ponferrada in the distance. Take the road for the descent).

Molinaseca is a very pretty village which is well worth a stop to let yourself be enveloped by its streets.

After leaving this town we pass through Campo and eight kilometres further on we enter the town of Ponferrada (km 29) (a large city in the region) with its Templar castle.

We leave Ponferrada, along tarmac roads and tracks, passing through different towns near Ponferrada: Compostilla, Columbrianos and Fuentes Navas, and finally we take the dirt tracks again and leave the cities behind us after leaving Camponaraya (km 45.5).

Surrounded by vineyards and poplars, we reach Cacabelos, after which we reach Pieros (km 53.5) after a demanding steep climb.

We continue along the hard shoulder of the road until we take a gravel path that starts with a steep climb and continues with a constant up and down until we reach Villafranca del Bierzo (km 59).

On leaving Villafranca, there is a fork in the road, the variant to Pradela with steep ascents or a paved path parallel to the river and very well protected from the traffic along the road.

We take the andadero and pass through Pereje and Trabadelo (km 69) and 6 kilometres further on we reach Vega de Valcarcel (although the road is slightly uphill and sapping our strength), and just 2 km further on we reach Ruitelan (a tiny village but with one of the best hostels on the route).

Here we rest at the foot of the famous climb to O Cebreiro and access to Galicia, but that will be another beautiful story for tomorrow's unforgettable stage.

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