Day 11- Jaunt to Castrojeriz 20km/12.4m

After an incredible gift from the Camino last night, we were up at 6:45 am and out the door by 7:30 am to begin our trek over the ancient Meseta.

As hot as it was yesterday afternoon, it was that cold this morning (43 degrees). We had our cold gear on for the first time. (Joan left her puffy coat in Pamplona, so out came the raincoat- with tag still on it). It was an invigorating way to begin the day.

Only two cities / stops / rest on our 20km hike today, but both were traditional Camino medieval towns with rich histories.

We stopped mid-day (10km in) for lunch in Hontanas, our only rest of the day. Joanie got her watermelon and it was a good stop all around. We are getting to know some of the new pilgrims on this leg.

After Hontanas, we emerged from the dusty hot, gravel roads to the San Anton Monastery and their ancient ruins. We could have stopped and slept outdoors under the stars with no electricity, but Kenzie suggested a 5 star Spa and relaxation resort and we hoofed another 5km to Castrojeriz and our 5 -star resort.

We could see the next city, Castrojeriz, their beautiful church and the castle ruins high up on the hill, and those last 5km were hard.

We came in hot, dirty, dusty and with very sore feet. Luckily Mackenzie’s recommendation did not disappoint and we limped into a desert oasis. Our first stop was the cold water foot plunge and cerveza’s. We finally had a proper siesta and a wonderful dinner with local wine.

We are now so tired, waiting on our clothes to dry 9:30 pm. Tomorrow we train to Leon (45 min) to explore the city. We are cutting two days of the desert Meseta. We end with 13+ days of consecutive walking to Santiago . We still have 309km / 192 miles from Leon to Santiago. We believe we are halfway. Buen Camino!Read more