Cold but no rain!

Alcaracejos to Hinojosa el Duque. 21 km

Note to self—next time do not let someone convince you that a pair of smartwool socks is just as good as that little pair of lambs wool gloves sitting back in the USA in your camino gear drawer. It was in the 40s (Fahrenheit) the whole way, and my hands were like icicles.

This was a flat, rural, green, off road walk. Lots of mud and deep puddles, but when my mind started to grumble I remembered what the hostal owner told me yesterday— that it had been so dry that the farmers had been paying 4,000-5,000€ a month to have water trucked in for their livestock. And then a month ago it rained so much in one week that it topped their annual average. Things are whacky all over it seems.

I am in a basic pension run by a very nice woman who is grateful for the pilgrims. She had shut the family hostal/Bar/Restaurant business but opened up the lodging part a few years ago because of all the camino traffic. The albergue here is very nice, I’ve heard, but I’m sticking with the pension routine for now.

Tomorrow I’ll have 33 with some elevation gain but a long 10 km slog at the end on asphalt. For the record-I (and every other Peregrino) hate walking on asphalt!!Read more