After our rest and working day in Fuente De, and watching the rain come down all afternoon, we headed off on Wednesday. The weather forecast was not great, but we didn't want to put ourselves another day behind schedule.
The stage from Fuente De heads up and over a high pass (Collada de Remona), then descends to Puerto de Pandetrave and continues down the valley to the small village of Portilla de la Reina. When we left Fuente De it was drizzling and the cloud ceiling was less than 100 m above us. As we ascended the steep track it continued to rain on and off, and our visibility was generally only about 50 m. This was truly a shame because this stage over the mountains is one of the most beautiful on the Camino, with (we've read) tremendous 180 degree views over the surrounding mountains. But not this day. When we arrived at the summit it was totally socked in, and in the wind we put on extra layers and gloves. The rain mostly let up as we descended, but we remained in cloud. Where the dirt track ends and we transitioned to pavement at Puerto de Pandetrave we dropped below the clouds and started to see around us (down, not up). We took a break there to eat the bocadillos we'd carried. The final 10 km of the day was down a lightly used road, and we made it in 2 hours.
The small village of Portilla de la Reina has a small private albergue. When we arrived we were surprised to find another pilgrim there: a young man from Madrid who was walking the Vadiniense in the opposite direction.
Today's stage was from Portilla de la Reina to the small town of Riano. The first 7 km were on pavement, then we were on a small dirt road through a number of small villages, and the final several km back on the highway into Riano. We arrived in time for a great comida and then took a room upstairs at the Hostal Sainz. Good food and very friendly.
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