Day 3 – to Caión

I took quite a bit of interest in lighthouses when travelling the west coast of Scotland a couple of years ago. I visited a few of them, and read a few books about their construction, and the days of their keepers; many in Scotland constructed by the Stevenson family, which including, though very part time, Robert Louis.

It’s the lives of the keepers that really interests me. The unfinished Poe story, made into an uncomfortable but gripping film with Pattinson and Dafoe and set off Cape Breton, conjures images of rampaging storms, and a solitary existence that demands great mental strength in order to survive.

The unexplained disappearance of the Flannan Isle keepers in 1900 from Eilean Mòr.

Hence my interest in these on the north-west Iberian coast, of which I will be visiting quite a few in the next week or so, and delving into their history.

The Faro de Estaca de Bares stands on the northernmost point of Spain, generally considered to be the boundary between the open Atlantic and the Mare Cantábrico (Bay of Biscay). Together with the light on Cabo Finisterre, where I will be last of all next week, it is one of the two lighthouses ordered in 1846 to light the northwestern corner of the Iberian Peninsula. It has been used continually since 1850, and was the model for most of the other lighthouses on the Galician coast.

It was electrified in 1964, but kept a full-time keeper until 1993.

The abandoned military installations, and accommodation at the lighthouse, were a US Coast Guard base since the early 1960s, and after French and British government stations until 1991.

I had chosen a hiking route for the morning that gained the highest ground close by, 330 metres, and took in a 2 kilometre ridge that was all above 300 metres. Though a muddy trudge initially, the route was quite spectacular, especially with the strong north-westerly wind making for a lively sea, and the frequent heavy rain and hail showers. For much of the hike the views were tremendous, occasional blue and sun against an otherwise angry sky, the ocean coastline on the way up, the ridge, and then the eucalyptus forests on the descent.

After lunch I moved to south of A Coruña. As it traverses the As Neves pass the road climbs to 600 metres, and the rain, now snow, had set in. It was below zero on the pass and a few centimetres of snow had accumulated, so it was slow going.

But down, beyond the city, it was a fair few degrees warmer.

I have some business in nearby Carballo tomorrow morning, then will start a few days on the Camino dos Faros, which begins at Malpica.

Tonight I’m at the surf town of Caión, devoid of any surfers, and indeed, any other people at all, save for two dog walkers I saw between the heavy showers. We wandered into town, but everything is closed. February is siesta month it seems.