Alcalá del Jucar to El Herrumblar

Though the Camino isn’t marked through the old town, it’s pretty easy to figure out where to go to get out of town — up. There are lots of ways to get there, but it doesn’t really matter as long as you get up to the playground next to the castle. From there the long, flat, 33 km to El Herrumblar begin. The weather has been just perfect, never above 80 and usually around 50 at the beginning of the walk in the morning. Sunny, with some occasional clouds, and frequent breezes. But knowing how desperately, this part of the country needs rain, it’s hard to rejoice about this weather.

I started early, about 630. The town was pretty empty and fun to walk through. Nice views on the way up and at the top. Once beyond the gorge though, it was back to walking through brown expanses of dead field crops. There were olive trees and grapevines to give us some green, but all in all, I would not say this was a five-star day. There were two well-placed little towns for stopping for a cold drink, but they were both pretty low on the charm quotient. I’m not complaining, because the stops for cold drinks were just what I needed, but I would have to say that today’s walk does not have much to please the senses. At least it was not on asphalt!

I’m expecting that the next two days will be a lot like today, but hopefully my back will be better than it was today. I had too much fun, playing tourist in Alcala del Jucar yesterday, and totally forgot to stretch. That will not happen again. But I have found though is that if I stop, takeoff my pack, and walk around and stretch a little, I can usually get another 45 minutes or an hour without it bothering me. So I guess what this means is that tomorrow may be a very long day.

Right now I’m off to the grocery store. There is no place in town that serves food until 830, so I think it’s time to see what the local store has got to offer!Read more