First long day 38 km to Caudete

When I was a young peregrina in her 60s, I found I really enjoyed stages in the 35-40 km range. Now it’s getting much harder. Today the choices were two days of 21 and 17 or one day of 38. I decided to give the longer option a try. Having an “extra” day open up is a nice cushion.

So it was an early start. Beautiful invigorating climb and then a flat stretch in pine forests. But not one animal other than rabbits did we see. In the pretty town of Biar, nothing was open. So on we went to Villena. Had a good rest and an excellent bocadillo there.

The Villena museum houses the Treasure of Argar, an amazing gold cache from 6,000 years ago. It looks stunning. As luck would have it, the museum is closed for renovation. Next time!!!

The stretch from Villena to Caudete is mind-numbing. Flat, flat, flat. Lots of ag lands. Thankfully very little on asphalt. The one interesting thing was to see many people planting vine shoots covered with red wax in rows no more than an inch apart. It was explained to me that they grow here till a certain height and are then transplanted. I don’t really see the point but then I am not an entrepreneur.

We are in the small town of Caudete, where everything is closed on a Sunday evening. So glad to have walked this stage with no mishaps.

Tomorrow Almansa. I was hoping to explore the castle again (I stayed here when i walked the Levante) but tomorrow is Monday!Read more