Itero de la Vega to Villarmentero, June 4

Shortly after departing from Itero de la Vega in the morning, we passed the 600 km mark.  Stopped in the village of Boadilla del Camino to celebrate with a cold drink.  Like many of the villages we've passed through along the Camino Frances, this one grew up as a result of the pilgrimage almost 1000 years ago.

Our path followed this canal for several kilometers as we approached the town of Fromista.  Very scenic walking.  As you can see, we were not the only pilgrims.  After our experience in Hornillos del Camino (where all the beds were taken by the time we arrived), we've tried to stay in between the usual stage end points.  So far this is working out pretty well, and providing a quieter experience.

At the entrance to Fromista, the canal passes through a lock.

 

After leaving Fromista, the camino turned into what our guidebook refers to as a "pilgrim autopista," an unpaved track which follows along the side of a secondary highway.  We spent about 10 km walking along this way, in a very straight line and with little of scenic interest.  

Eventually we arrived at the very small village of Villarmentero (population less than 10), which boasts one of the most interesting albergues along the camino.  There is a strong hippie vibe here (even to the point of coed bathrooms and showers).  The food was vegetarian, heavily based on local produce, and the dinner was a communal affair (there's no place else to eat in the village).

Instead of the usual room full of bunkbeds, we opted to sleep outside in one of the albergue's two tipis.  There was a low wood platform with some cushions to lay our sleeping bags, and a full moon.

 

Que ver en (what to see in) Villarmentero
You're looking at it.

Villarmentero to Calzadilla de la Cueza, June 5

The camino heading out from Villarmentero was another one of the pilgrim autopistas, but we found a slightly longer alternative that took us along a canal through farmland for several kilometers.

Once that ended, we were back along the side of the highway for the rest of the way into Carrion de los Condes.  Once again, we saw our friends with the two donkeys.  The animals moved at a good clip, and the two pilgrims walking with them had to really move to keep up.

We stopped in Carrion de los Condes for a cool drink and some food to go, then continued westward.  For several km the camino was on a rural road, then switched to dirt.  The terrain was flat and relatively featureless, the road was straight and seemed to go forever.  We were hoping to reach a spring indicated on our maps before stopping to eat the sandwiches we'd brought along.  As we approached, we saw what appeared to be a mirage to our hot and thirsty eyes, but turned out to be a van selling cool drinks and ice cream.  The perfect accompaniment for our lunch.

After our lunch stop and ice cream, it was only about 11 km more to our destination of Calzadilla de la Cueza.  We were glad to arrive in the small village after 30 km of walking.

We got a room at the hostal in town, and enjoyed a cold beer while we waited for dinner (not served until 7:30).  The people with the two donkeys were staying in the same place, and we decided to dine together.  What a fascinating couple.  She is an artist and choreographer; he is recently retired after many years heading the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France.  We enjoyed great conversation and a couple of bottles of wine over a great dinner.

Calzadilla de la Cueza to Sahagun, June 6

The next day's stage was much more pleasant: less walking near roads, and much shorter (only 22 km).  Once again, we were working our way through gently rolling terrain of mostly wheat fields.  But the villages were only a few km apart, so there were ample opportunities to stop and refill water bottles or buy a cold drink.

Along the way we met an Italian man who was pulling a little cart with his gear instead of carrying a backpack.  We walked and talked for some time.  He had worked in the restaurant business in Tuscany, and after seeing the volume of pilgrim traffic along the Camino Frances was thinking of trying to open an albergue.

  

By early afternoon we arrived in the city of Sahagun, our destination for the day.  Unlike most of the places we've stopped, this is a real city, with multiple restaurants and bars, stores, the whole bit.  In the central plaza, kids kicked soccer balls while older men chatted on a bench.

The town was gearing up for a fiesta over the weekend (unfortunately for us, we were there on Wed night and would miss out).  There would be a running of bulls through town on Friday, bullfights over the weekend.  While we walked around town exploring, we saw a carnival setting up near the church and in the shadow of the ruins of a 12th century monastery.

   

 

Sahagun to Calzadilla de los Hermanillos, then on to Leon, June 7 & 8

Not a whole lot of scenery along these two stages....

The first was from Sahagun to Calzadilla de los Hermanillos, a distance of only 14 km (this was a rest day after covering over 50 km over the previous two days).  We had a leisurely breakfast in Sahagun, then headed out of town.  After about 5 km we passed through the tiny farming village of Calzada de Coto, then the cultivated fields gave way to some bits of truly open country.  This is a rarity: pretty much everything we've seen that isn't too steep to plow is cultivated.  We were following an old Roman road; the rock surface is still intact in parts.

Here's a 180 degree panorama as we approached Calzadilla.  Farm fields on both sides of our track, nothing else but a lot of sky.

Because of the short stage, we were at our destination by a little after noon.  We found a great room in a private albergue, enjoyed a nice lunch of salad and delicious vegetable soup, and even had our clothes washed (first time other than hand washing since Tiebas, a few weeks ago).

Next morning we headed out of town on our next stage, about 25 km to Mansilla de las Mulas.  Once again we were following the old Roman road, and once again we were walking through the middle of nowhere.  For the whole stage, we didn't pass a single house, or farm (we saw fields, but no structures other than in the distance), or place to fill water bottles.  Nada.

Here's Ellen on the old Roman road.  It looks a lot like a dirt road, but is much more historic.

The big excitement was passing near a rail line, and seeing this sign.  The other big excitement was passing the 700 km mark on our trek.  We forgot to take a picture, but will get one up soon.

The following stage, from Mansilla de las Mulas into the big city of Leon, is described in our guide books as a fairly unpleasant slog mostly alongside busy highways.  In common with many other pilgrims, we were planning to cover it by bus.  As we approached Mansilla, we decided to just take the bus that day rather than waiting til the morning.  By 2:30 pm we were walking into town, and at 3 boarded a local bus (along with several of the pilgrims we'd met in the albergue the night before) to Leon.

After a good deal of walking around and phoning, we located a pleasant and reasonably priced hostal in the city.

Rest days in Leon

We arrived in Leon late Friday, and as soon as we had lodging nailed down got going on our city chores. First on the list was new shoes.  Ellen's have been on life support for a while.  She wore holes in the inside of both heels (note duct tape), the soles are mostly smooth, and the uppers are fraying.  Dan's are not as bad, but the soles are getting smooth, the cushioning is dead, and the uppers are wearing through.  We located a few promising shops for sports shoes and went shopping.  After a little searching we located a spiffy new pair of Salomon trail runners for Ellen.  We resumed the hunt on Saturday, and found a similar pair for Dan.  Because the rest of our Camino will be in Galicia, which is noted for wet weather (Spain's Oregon), both are Gore Tex.

We passed the 700 km mark on Friday's walk to Leon, but neglected to record it.  We filled in the gap in Leon, in front of the pilgrim statue in the Plaza San Marcos.

Leon traces its origins back to Roman times.  During the 10th century it grew to a small walled city (parts of the wall are still intact).  The old quarter (inside the old walls) is a wonderful maze of little streets, and as is common in Spanish cities is a pedestrian-only zone.

 Today (Sunday) there were big celebrations for Corpus Christi.  Many groups were parading with statues, some of the groups were accompanied by large brass bands.  It was a major party.

 

Between paraders and onlookers, the street was filled.

In the central courtyard of another old building a small medieval fair was going on.

In the afternoon we walked over to the river, and the adjacent old Convento San Marcos.

 This tremendous structure has been a convent, monastery, government building, and was used as a prison and torture center during the Spanish Civil War.  It is now a very elegant five-star hotel.

 Tomorrow (Monday) we head north on another camino, the Ruta del Salvador, toward Oviedo.

By bus to La Robla, then on foot to Pola de Gordon, June 11 & 12

Because Dan's been struggling with a very nasty head cold, we stayed in Leon longer than planned, hoping for things to improve.  Monday we decided to skip the first stage of our next camino, the Ruta del Salvador, which is fairly flat and partly through the suburbs of Leon.  Instead, we took a bus from Leon to the end of the stage, the  small city of La Robla.  It is a fairly depressed coal mining town, and quite sleepy.  But their Corpus Christi celebration was continuing through Monday, so we were able to join in some of the fun.  There was a town bake-off for cakes and tortillas (in Spain this is like a fritata).

In one of the town buildings, there were performances by the local amateur musicians, from school age to adult.  There was a rock band scheduled to perform in the town's plaza, but not starting till 11:30, at night so we didn't make that one.

Next morning we headed out, walking once again.  Our stage for the day was short, only 10 km to the village of La Pola de Gordon.  It was quite pretty walking, mostly through forests and following the same river that flows through Leon.

By shortly after noon we were in La Pola.  It proved to be a slightly less depressed town than La Robla, and a little friendlier.  People were fly fishing in the river right in the center of town.  We ate a great comida (what luck: chicken soup for the first course!), took a nap, and walked around the town.

 

La Pola de Gordon to Poladura de la Tercia, June 13

After La Pola, we soon started heading up into the mountains.  It is great to be back in a vertical landscape.  We are mountain people, and this is where we feel most comfortable and at home.

After about 5 km we passed through the small village of Buiza, and things went quickly uphill from there.

Over the next several kilometers, we climbed steadily and gained over 500 meters in elevation.  The rock outcrops and flowers were tremendous, and as we climbed the views only improved.

The trail was sometimes rough, but very well marked and easy to follow.

Eventually we topped out at a pass and began the long descent to the valley on the opposite side.

 

The small village of Poladura, where we stopped for the night, has an albergue but no bars or stores for food.  There is a small inn which prepares dinners by prior arrangement, and we had fortunately called the day before.  It was the best dinner we've eaten in all our time in Spain.  We started with appetizers of ham and local cheese, then a rolled omelet with asparagus and a pepper vinaigrette sauce.  The first course was an amazing seafood lasagna, the second pork cutlets, dessert a chocolate flan.  The wine was outstanding, and we went to bed happily stuffed.

Poladura de la Tercia to Pajares, June 14

Today's stage continued our mountain trek through Asturias, and included two passes.  As soon as we left the village of Poladura we were climbing up the opposite side of the valley.  Our path was mostly through open meadows, sometimes working our way around or through rocky outcrops.

 

One of the pleasures of mountain hiking is that, the more one climbs, the better the views.

 

 

Flowers are in full bloom at this time of year.  The heather is really something.

Here's the view at the top of our first pass.

We dropped down the other side, then began climbing again.  I think most of those flowers alongside the trail are heather.

We topped out again at Puerto de Pajares, which sits at the top of the crest right by the border between  the states of Leon and Asturias.  There's a little cafe where the road crosses at the summit; we stopped in for a sandwich.  Unfortunately it was too chilly to sit outside and enjoy the view while we ate.

Then, we headed down the other side toward our destination in the small village of Pajares.  There's a very nice albergue there.  It even has a vending machine for beer.

After a little relaxing and a shower we spent some time walking around the village.  We met some older residents sitting on a bench, enjoying the views and chatting.  One of them, once he learned we were from the US, took Dan over to his garage to show off his beautifully restored 1950 REO wrecker.  This is not your everyday tow truck: it's one of those super-duty jobs for towing heavy trucks.  Three axles, all with drive, PTO at front and rear.  He used to have the towing business in town, and serviced that stretch of road including the steep pass we'd just crossed.  We also discovered a shared interest in Nordic skiing.  He was twice on Spain's Olympic team.  Looking at the mountains where he'd grown up and still lived, it was easy to see how his skills and fitness had developed to that level.