San Esteban de Gormaz to Quintanarraya

Having been able to stock up on some fruit, my pack was heavy for the walk to Quintanarraya. It had rained last night (don’t ask me how I know, but it has to do with the skylight window snd was a real mess), so I was prepared for mud. But we were pleasantly surprised.

Many would call this a “boring” or “dull” stage, and it is true that again today there wasn’t much going on, either scenically or historically. Crop lands mainly (many actually looking pretty good), some ups and downs through scrub oak forests. But if you’ve walked any camino, you probably have experienced the centering and peaceful monotony that come from this kind of day out in the wide open spaces. It’s hard to explain, but it’s great.

A few kms outside the village of Villavaro, there’s a tiny Romanesque chapel. It used to be the parish church for a now disappeared village. The camino has been re-routed to go right by it, and that means 4 or 5 kms more on dirt tracks rather than on the road, so it was a win-win re-routing.

In Alcubilla we saw the 16th C palace that had been a hotel restaurante till the man with the concession died suddenly. It’s municipally owned and they have been unsuccessful finding someone new. That meant that Clare and I had to walk on 10 more kms to the tiny hamlet of Quintanarraya, where there is a basic 5 bed albergue in the old school. Toilet and shower, hot water, clean. The mayor checked us in.

During the last 3 or 4 kms of today’s walk, , I could see very dark skies and rain to our north. About a half hour after arrival, it rained, then stopped, then rained. There is now thunder and lightening all around us. We are hoping it moves on by tomorrow morning.

We have feasted on canned tuna and powdered soup. A couple pieces of fruit and some dark chocolate. Tomorrow our packs will be lighter!

Tuesday a.m update. At the suggestion of a helpful local man, I have found a little bit of cell phone coverage on the way out of town near the bodegas.(caves in the hill, where people stored and made their wine.).Read more