Day 27: León to San Martín del Camino

Mileage: 15.5 miles
Altitude gain and loss: Garmin says 0 feet. Not sure about that, but it was relatively flat.
Weather: cool and cloudy for most of the day with some sunny moments and a couple of small rain squalls
Total mileage: 315.5

It was a day of lessons, and you know those aren’t always the most fun times. I somehow missed that there’s an alternate route that *doesn’t* follow a highway through this stage and part of tomorrow’s. I had already made a reservation for this route and went ahead with that plan. Today’s route took me out of León, through industrial areas outside of the city, and then into the country, but next to a busy highway. That said, the weather was almost perfect, and I had lots of time to reflect on the takeaway lessons here. I also met a New Yorker named Joe who also went to UNT. What are the odds of that?

There were some pretty moments, and the mountains are getting closer!

1. Sculpture of a pilgrim in León. I can relate to this guy!
2. and 3. From the front of the famous (and very posh) parador hotel in León. (If you’ve seen the movie, this is the one they stay in.) I can just imagine the faculty meeting that’s taking place in 3.
4. Small church on the outskirts of León
5. and 6. For some reason there were a lot of structures built into the sides of hills today. Maybe I missed that I was in the Shire?
7. The Basílica de la Virgen del Camino. Cool to see a more modern take
8. Another church with requisite bells and storks in Valverde de la Virgen
9. Apples? Crabapples? The apples for sale in the stores here are SO good.
10. The walk did get prettier at the end of the day with green fields (corn, I think?) along the way. You can just barely see the mountains at the horizon if you zoom in.Baca lagi