5/31/17 Day 21: Leon to San Martin del Camino (29.26 km oops!)

START / END TIME:  6:48 - 13:30

WALK / TOTAL TIME:  6:03 / 6:42

SPEED / PACE:  12.26 

WEATHER:  70° but felt hotter

TERRAIN:  Dirt path
↗:  265     ↘: 237

ACCOMMODATION:  Vieira

PRICE: € 17 inc dinner

NARRATIVE:  I left Tere to take the bus and headed out early. It took 7.5 kms just to get out of the city. I met an archeologist from Denmark, but we soon separated as she wanted to walk the more scenic variant and I needed to continue on the original Camino so I could meet up with Tere in San Martin. All was going well until the route passed a farm with 4 dogs, one of which wasn't going to have any part in allowing us to pass, baring teeth and all. There were two Asian girls off to the left who indicated that that was the way - a highway underpass. We all followed, and were shortly met by a large group of people joining us on our left. I should have realized what had happened right away, but just continued on chatting with a doctor from Siberia. When we arrived at the first stop, I asked the host what was the next stop. He showed me on a map that we had switched over to the variant and that I would have to carry on until Vilar de Mazarif before I could switch back - no problem, only 2-3 kms extra. I got to Vilar (22 kms) only to be told I had at least another 15 kms to go. I started out on the 7 km side road, all alone. After 2-3 kms, I arrived at Fojedo where I saw a bus stop. I stopped a car with an elderly man to ask about busses, which he told me there were none. I then asked for a ride and he took me at least 5 kms to Villadangos del Paramo. What a relief! I continued on to San Martin where Tere was anxiously waiting. It had taken me longer than anticipated, (would have been more than an hour more without the ride!), plus she didn't see me out of the bus window so she was concerned. Well, all least it was the scenic route and it gave me a story to tell...

5/30/17 Day 20: Reliegos to Leon (25.75)

START / END TIME:  6:03 - 12:22

WALK / TOTAL TIME:  5:13 / 6:19

SPEED / PACE:  12.09

WEATHER:  70°

TERRAIN:  Level dirt road next to highway. One climb before Leon. Long walk into city.
↗:  196       ↘: 174

ACCOMMODATION:  San Francis d'Asissi

PRICE: € 10 (free laundry)

NARRATIVE:  Today, we walked in circles, trying to find arrows leading out of Religis. So annoying. We walked the 6km into Mansilla de las Mulas, ate breakfast, and Tere caught the bus as her feet were really hurting her.

The walk the rest of the way went well. I listened to music to try to drown out the highway sounds and boredom. I walked fast so I was quite tired when I finally got to Leon.

We had a nice lunch, then back to albergue to do laundry and relax.

5/29/17 Day 19: Sahagun to Reliegos (32.56?)

START / END TIME: 6:20 / 14:40

WALK / TOTAL TIME:  6:51? / 8:20

SPEED / PACE:  12:49 

WEATHER:  70° Two hours of sprinkles, rest if day had dark skies

TERRAIN:  Dirt path parallel road all day
↗:         ↘:

ACCOMMODATION:  Municipal

PRICE: € 5

NARRATIVE:  The day from hell. Or at least the stage end city from hell. Definitely the worst day. 
1. The walk was longer by several kms than all the maps. Plus, it was boring.
2. We walked so long that my watch stopped at least 20 minutes out, so totals are guesses.
3. The vegetarian albergue I sent my pack to (Ada) is closed on Mondays so they dropped it off at the municipal. We had several Korean men in our room that smelled like kimchi and snored.
4. My shower was luke warm and the guy in the stall next to mine kept moaning. Gross!
5. The cafe were we ate gave us marginal food (frozen lasagne and paella) and overcharged us, according to everyone else's prices.
6. There were no yellow arrows guiding us out of town in the a.m.

And now for the bright spots... We shipped the pack so we didn't have to deal with the weight. Also, there was a donativo masseur at the albergue. Ahhhh!

5/28/17 Day 18: Calzadilla de la Cueza to Sahagun (22.64 km)

START / END TIME:  5:53 - 12:30

WALK / TOTAL TIME:  4:55 / 6:37

SPEED / PACE:  13:01 

WEATHER:  68° overcast

TERRAIN:  Flat dirt path along highway
↗:  196       ↘: 210

ACCOMMODATION:  Viatoris

PRICE: € 7

NARRATIVE:  I had a rough night last night. My bed was soft We started out a little later today, but it was still a little dark for me. We walked along the road which paralleled a dirt path for most of the day as it had rained during the night and the path was a little muddy. We got to Terradillos jaround 8:00 and hung out there for almost an hour, waiting for the cook to finish making a tortilla.

We walked on to Sahagun, me with a back ache and Tere with sore feet. The plan is tomorrow to send on one pack to give ourselves a break. We're planning on walking 31 km.

The weather was great today for walking as the skies were gray, threatening rain all day. It was supposed to rain at 11:00, but it's 18:30 and it has yet to rain.

5/27/17 Day 17: Villarmentero de Campos to Calzadilla de la Cueza (26.73)

START / END TIME:  5:50 - 13:15

WALK / TOTAL TIME:  5:50 / 7:25

SPEED / PACE:  13:07

WEATHER:  61 - 81°

TERRAIN:  Flat dirt trail along road
↗:  197     ↘: 123

ACCOMMODATION:  Los Canarios

PRICE: € 15

NARRATIVE:  A long day, but at least it wasn't hot. In fact, the last hour of walking had a nice breeze and cloud cover. A welcome relief to the dreaded 17 km stretch. At Carrion de los Condes, we ran into our Mexican friends. They stopped for breakfast while we continued on. They later caught up with us as we approached the 9km or so food stop. We walked with them into the town and got a four bed room together.

The whole time I was walking, I kept thinking "I'm so glad we filled up last night because I'm hungry now and I don't think I could have made it. We both were beat by the time we arrived and it wasn't even our hardest day.
Dinner was marginal, at best. Can't recommend this place. The room are nie, but expensive, especially when you consider that there is only one bathroom for 4 rooms - at least 14 people.

5/26/17 Day 16: Itero de la Vega to Villarmentero de Campos (23.25 km)

START / END TIME:  5:34 - 11:50

WALK / TOTAL TIME:  5:14 / 6:16

SPEED / PACE:  13:33

WEATHER:  80's° overcast and threatening rain

TERRAIN:  Long trees less walk
↗:  137       ↘: 119

ACCOMMODATION:  Amanecer

PRICE: € 17 inc dinner / bf donativo

NARRATIVE:  Once again, we got an early start: 5:30. All was dark, it was next to impossible to see any arrows and there was no one else around. I must admit, it made me a little nervous, but within ½ hour, it was light enough to see. We made it to Boadilla quite fast, where we ate our breakfast. As we started out again, the wind picked up and threatened rain, which we stopped to prepare for. Next stop, Fromista, which was dead. Where did everybody go? The rest of the way was flat and easy. We arrived in Villarmentero de Campos by 11:50 without a drop of rain.
The alburgue is quite “rustic”, but it’s clean and cheap. No WiFi, though. We checked the local hotel, and he offered us a pilgrims price of 40€. Too steep for our budget. We decided to just rough it. As it turned out, we’re alone in a room with 4 brand new bunk beds. What luck!
Dinner was amazing. A gorgeous salad, then bean soup, pasta, garbanzos with spinach, (chicken with) fries and watermelon for dessert. We stuffed ourselves like it was Thanksgiving dinner.

5/25/17 Day 15: San Bol to Itero de la Vega (25:32 km)

START / END TIME:  5:32 - 13:00

WALK / TOTAL TIME:  5:34 / 6:02

SPEED / PACE:  13.13

WEATHER:  86° Sunny and hot - late afternoon clouds

TERRAIN:  Paved & hard dirt road.
↗: 273      ↘: 392

ACCOMMODATION:  La Mochilla

PRICE: € 12 inc dinner

NARRATIVE:  We left this a.m. before sunrise so we could walk in cool weather. It was sunny all day so the umbrellas we out after our breakfast stop. Tere's feet are feeling better so we walked well today. As we got to San Anton, a tractor almost hit two pilgrims. Pretty scarey for us, but they didn't even flinch. After Castrojeriz, there was a tough, fairly long hill. The descent was much shorter, but much steeper as well. As we were going down, Frederic caught up with us again and walked with us for a while. 

I felt hungry all day, so I kept snacking. Unfortunately, by dinner time, I wasn't as hungry so I forced myself to eat my meal, which was amazing. 

We're sharing a room with the Mexican couple we met in Granon. At last, no bunks for 1€ more each - money well spent. Plus, I was able to wash all my laundry. A great day.

5/24/17 Day 14: Burgos to San Bol (27.95 km)

START / END TIME:  7:41 - 15:00

WALK / TOTAL TIME:  6:14 / 7:19

SPEED / PACE:  13:26 

WEATHER:  88°

TERRAIN:  Paved until Tardajos, then hard dirt road. 2 Gradual ups, 1 steep rocky down
↗: 306     ↘: 282

ACCOMMODATION:  San Bol

PRICE: € 12 inc dinner

NARRATIVE:  Today was hot!!! Thank heavens for our parasols - the envy of many. The Spaniards kept teasing us about rain. The walk out of Burgos was tree lined and beautiful along the river. After Tardajos, it was long and exposed. When the countryside doesn't change, it makes the kms seem longer. Although we had reserved our beds, we felt pressure to get there by 15:00, which we barely made, as sheets was only holding the beds for us until 15:30.

The albergue is pretty rugged, out in the middle of nowhere. A very welcome site as it would have killed us to go any further. We got a late start out of Burgos because of the late breakfast which meant that we were walking in the hottest part of the day. The albergue barely has electricity, let alone internet. It does have a freezing cold "pool" for soaking feet. Ahhhhhh...

The dinner was salad and "paella" (tortilla for me), which a Valencian at the table informed us was actually just chicken and rice as there were no vegetables. Well, at least it was cooked in a huge paella pan. 

5/23/17 Day 13: Ages to Burgos (22.23 km)

START / END TIME:  6:13 to 11:30

WALK / TOTAL TIME:  4:53 / 5:17

SPEED / PACE:  13.13 

WEATHER:  58° - 75°

TERRAIN:  Rocky uphill then down, then through several small towns until a nice river walk
↗: 191       ↘: 291

ACCOMMODATION:  Emaus

PRICE: € 5 + dinner and breakfast donativo

NARRATIVE:  A beautiful day for walking. The rocks were hard on Tere's feet, but I enjoyed the walk. We took the variant river trail, which I walked with Frederic so was engaged in interesting conversation most of the way. I really anticipated more Spanish people along the route for Tere to converse with, but alas, none so far. Once again, we said goodbye to Frederic and we made it to the albergue by 11:30, but it didn't open until 12:00 so we basked in the sun a bit. 

Burgos is a beautiful town. Lots of leafy trees and a nice breeze all day. We ate lunch at a kebab place, which was good, but I had a stomach ache all afternoon. We got back to the albergue around 17:00 and rested until dinner, which was a nice communal meal reminiscent of France. In fact, at least 1/2 of the pilgrims here are French.

5/22/17 Day 12: Tosantos to Ages (22.93 km)

START / END TIME:  6:24 to 13:00

WALK / TOTAL TIME:  5:07 / 6:36

SPEED / PACE:  13:26 

WEATHER:  72°

TERRAIN:  Mostly dirt path through a forest
↗:  449       ↘: 301

ACCOMMODATION:  San Rafael

PRICE: €20 inc dinner 

NARRATIVE:  Although today was sunny, we had cover from the trees most of the day. The climb out of Villafranca Montes de Oca was challenging. We stopped for a sandwich in San Juan de Ortega, rested a bit then made it to Ages. Everyone else we talked to was going on to Atapuerca, but Ages divided the stages more evenly, so we preferred to stop there. As I walked into the albergue, I was immediately greater with "completo". I had sent a reservation request the night before but never received a response, so I thought I'd check. To our relief, we had a reservation. Someone had cancelled at 11:00 p.m. the night before. We had a great meal: Cream of veg soup, spaghetti with ratatouille sauce and flan. A good day.

5/21/17 Day 12: Granon to Tosantos (21.11 km)

START / END TIME:  6:45 - 12:00

WALK / TOTAL TIME:  4:50 / 5:20

SPEED / PACE:  13:46 

WEATHER:  68° overcast

TERRAIN:  Flat, dirt road
↗: 327        ↘: 243

ACCOMMODATION:  Arancones

PRICE: € 22 with dinner

NARRATIVE:  We decided to do a short day today to test out Tere's ankle. By the time we arrived, she said her pain was about a 4, so that's good news. It was an easy walk, basically flat, most of it next to the highway, flanked on the other side by either vineyards or wheat. It's very beautiful - especially since the dark skies seem to make the colors more vivid.

We're staying at Arancones which is also a restaurant and have watched the meals being served all afternoon, which look amazing. I can't wait for dinner! Apparently, we can eat as early as 17:00... We had planned to stay here when we left Granon and I was happy to see a sign announcing that they were open at 11:30 since we arrived right at 12:00 and I assumed we would have to wait around several hours. We both even got bottom bunks! A miracle!

5/19/17 Day 10: Logrono to Najera (29.42 km)

START / END TIME:  7:11 - 14:30

WALK / TOTAL TIME:  6:29 / 7:19

SPEED / PACE:  13.13 

WEATHER:  50°-62°

TERRAIN:  Level with one climb into Navarette
↗: 436      ↘:348

ACCOMMODATION:  Albergue Pena

PRICE: € 12.50 with breakfast

NARRATIVE:  Tere's ankle was swollen this a.m., so she hopped the bus to Najera and I hoofed it alone. There was hardly anyone on the path all day, and yet when I arrived in Najera (Tere was patiently waiting for me at the bridge) most of the albergues were already filled. Go figure. I got here by 14:30, which seems early to me. We finally found two beds at Peña in a room of 6. There were probably beds in the municipal, but I was trying to avoid that zoo. There is a Mexican couple in our room from DF and Michoacan. The only other Mexicans we've met so far besides Tere. We've met a woman from Guatemala in Puente la Reina and a few Bresilians along the way, but that's it for Latin America. It seems like 30% of the peligrinos are from Korea, 30% from Italy, and then the remaining 40% is a big mix from everywhere else.

5/18/17 Day 9: Torres del Rio to Logrono (20.67 km)

START / END TIME:  6:58 - 13:42

WALK / TOTAL TIME:  5:33 / 6:45

SPEED / PACE:  16:10  

WEATHER: 48°- 62°

TERRAIN:  Rolling hills, mostly dirt/muddy roads
↗: 365      ↘: 441

ACCOMMODATION:  Albergue de Logrono

PRICE: € 15 each for a double room

NARRATIVE:  Today, it rained, as forecasted. It didn't start until 9:00, but it really poured for a good hour. Fortunately, we were just outside of Viana, so we trodded on into the town and stopped into a cafe for hot chocolate and muffins.

At 10:15, it seemed that the worst was over, so we headed on out. By 11:00, it was raining again and didn't let up all the way to Logrono. I really wanted to stay in the same place as in 2015 which we eventually found with some effort. Well worth it. We have our own room with 2 beds with sheets and blankets, a t.v., a bathroom with soap, shampoo and towels for 30€. So nice to have some privacy, to be able to spread out our wet stuff and charge electronics without worry. We both took long hot showers and I took a nap while Tere put ice on her recently twisted ankle. Gotta love the slippery mud/rocks. While I was skyping, Tere went out again and came back with a pair of hiking sandals. She's loving them as she feels no pain! Time will tell, but we're optimistic.

We went to a middle eastern cafe for dinner - I had a falafel and she had a veal sandwich and we split some fries. Great meal for 9.50€. Then back to the room to catch up on blogging while watching music videos. Ah... This is the life.

5/17/17 Day 8: Estella to Torres del Rio (30.18 km)

START / END TIME:  7:13 - 16:34

WALK / TOTAL TIME:  7:38 / 9:21

SPEED / PACE:  15:09 

WEATHER:  68°

TERRAIN:  Basically flat. One big hill to Villamayor de Monjardin, mostly dirt roads.
↗:  575      ↘: 542

ACCOMMODATION:  Pata de Oca

PRICE: € 12

NARRATIVE:  Today was perfect walking weather. Cool and overcast. I'm back to wearing my pack and the only problem was my pack rubbing on my burned shoulder. What a relief!

The map showed a big mountain up to Villamayor de Monjardin, but it was equal in difficulty to the climb out if Puente de la Reina. Who makes these maps? I think I've found my future vocation!

We got to Los Arcos around 2:00 and decided to continue on to Torres del Rio because we weren't tired, tomorrow was threatening rain and supposedly there was a good vegetarian albergue there. We said goodbye to Janelle from SF and her friend Andrea from NY as Andrea has to return home and Regina is jumping ahead to meet up with her mom. 

The 9 km to Torres del Rio was pretty easy, but we were tired when we arrived. Poor Tere's feet just won't give her a break.

When we checked in, I confirmed that they served vegetarian food - no problem. When we went to dinner, I had two options: vegetable soup and an asparagus plate. I needed something more filling so we left and went to the Hostal San Andres where we had a great meal. Basically the same as everywhere else, but a higher restaurant quality for the same price - 12€. I had mixed salad and pasta with tomato sauce topped with cheese. I also had some kind of jelly topped custard for desert.

The best part about our albergue is that they have a foot pool around 5'x10' filled with cold water which we both took advantage of.

5/16/17 Day 7: Puente la Reina to Estella (22.93 km)

START / END TIME:  7:41 - 3:40

WALK / TOTAL TIME:  6:02 / 8:00

SPEED / PACE:  15:52 

WEATHER:  85°

TERRAIN:  Big bump, then relatively flat
↗: 560       ↘: 410

ACCOMMODATION:  Albergue del Pelegrino

PRICE: € Donativo

NARRATIVE: The big bump 3km out of Puente la Reina was exactly as I remembered it. Although it's only around 1 km, it kicked the snot out if me. I can't figure out why it doesn't show on any map.

Tons of people got burned today, including the worse sunburn I've had since I was a teen on my left shoulder. The one spot I missed putting sunscreen on. I sent my pack, so I just didn't notice anything on my shoulder.

Tere keeps having foot troubles. A new one everyday. Hopefully, we'll be able to get it all worked out over the next week and be done with it.

We boiled some eggs in Puente la Reina which made for a perfect snack, along with some fruit.

We originally thought we'd stay at the Monesterio San Benito, and had the pack sent there. When we arrived, it seemed abandoned so I panicked a little over the pack, but someone finally opened up and our pack was there. It was pricey and I think we would have been the only ones there so we left and ended up at the donativo. 18 per room x2 rooms, 2 showers and 4 toilets. Just like camp.  

5/15/17 Day 6: Pamplona to Puente la Reina (24.38 km)

START / END TIME:  7:12 - 14:30

WALK / TOTAL TIME:  5:50 / 7:18

SPEED:  15:00 / 4.0 

WEATHER:  50-72°

TERRAIN:  Very gradual up with a couple big bumps and a steep downhill after the Alto de Person.
↗:  4.65      ↘: 5.79

ACCOMMODATION:  Estrella Guia

PRICE: € 12 b&b

NARRATIVE:  Today was a relatively easy day, but it felt long. At the Alto de Perdon, there were a couple of mounted police doing a photo shoot, which was fun to watch. It was much more commercial this time. There was a food truck and a van offering to take bags of anyone willing to sleep at their albergue. 

The scenery was beautiful and we walked through several quaint villages. After some experimentation, it seems my back is responding best to panadol so I'm going to have to pick up some more tomorrow. Unfortunately, we haven't resolved Tere's foot problem.

Instead of eating out, we made pasta, a mixed salad, bread sticks, fruit and rice pudding for dinner for 8 € and we had enough food for four people. It was quite good and much cheaper than eating out.

5/14/17 Day 5: Larasoana to Pamplona (15.75 km)

START / END TIME:  7:43 - 12:20

WALK / TOTAL TIME:  4:18 / 4:37

PACE:  15:47 / 3.8

WEATHER:  48 - 75°

TERRAIN:  Slightly downhill all day. Last 4km are residential until Pamplona
↗:  291       ↘: 333

ACCOMMODATION:  Jesus y Maria

PRICE: € 8

NARRATIVE:  Sent a bag ahead, so we had an easy, short day. My back muscle spasms are gone, but I still have hip pain. Tere is also having foot pains. Frederic, a Frenchman we met the first night in Aroue stopped and wrapped her foot. After that, it was much better for her. Checked in as soon as we arrived (happy to see our bag), then we got money, went to the vegetarian restaurant for me with Janelle from San Francisco. We were supposed to meet up with Frederick there, but he thought it was closed so he went elsewhere and moved on. My meal was good (veg soup with couscous, rice with mushroom risoto, and yogurt with homemade jelly), but expensive at €16. It's Sunday, so everything is closed. Found the only open pharmacy and stocked up on pain meds. Searched desperately for a new memory card for Tere's camera and finally found one in a Chinese store. Tere ate chicken, fries and salad in a middle eastern place. Walked around a bit so Tere could take some photos and made our way back to the albergue to relax.

5/13/17 Day 4: Roncesvalles to Larasoana (27 km)

START / END TIME:  6:43 / 4:30

WALK / TOTAL TIME:  

PACE:  

WEATHER:  68°

TERRAIN:  Basically flat with three ups, gradual down
↗:         ↘:

ACCOMMODATION:  San Nicolas

PRICE: € 12 + 11 for dinner

MENU:  S

NARRATIVE:  Today was a tough day. Tere's feet hurt so we went slowly. Then, after Espinal, I slipped on the muddy rocks/pine needles. I thought I only hurt my pride, but I screwed up my back. I could feel myself leaning to the right. I had I hard time keeping my balance and fell into some barbed wire, cutting my arm in several places. After that, my backpack started killing me. We ran into two chiropractors who said I was having muscle spasms. Tere carried my pack the last 500 meters into Zubiri, and I lay on the grass and stretched my back. All the albergues were full so we borrowed a phone and made reservations in Larasoana. I barely made it, stopping every km to lay down and stretch. The last km Tere once again carried my poles. What a lightweight! At least we made it. It's a great place.