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Ruta de la Lana, 2023Ruta de la Lana, 2023
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Ruta de la Lana, 2023

May - June 2023
A 38-day adventure by Laurie Read more
  • 36footprints
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  • Laurie ReynoldsRuta de la Lana, 2023
    11
    Day 2

    Arrived in Alicante

    May 10, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    It’s beautiful here, mid to high 70s (but that’s actually hot for walking in the sun), lots of palm trees, and a castle up on a rocky promontory with views out over the ocean and massive, modern beach development all around.

    The flight from the US was fine though it was a long day, and I had four hours in the Madrid Airport this morning. But it was still the most convenient way to get here, because the trains would have arrived even later than my flight

    First things 1st – send a box of goodies (like canned pumpkin, vanilla chai, and Dentyne gum,) to my friends in Madrid. The line was long and it took me an hour. But then I went to the Vodafone store, and there was no one, so that even things out. I got my Spanish Sim card with 100 GB of data, unlimited Spain calls and hundreds of international minutes. All for a whopping €15 per 4 weeks. So much cheaper than in the US. A few more errands and then I checked in to my very basic hotel Cervantes.

    After my shower, I hightailed it up to the castle, on a rock about 200 m above sea level. I walked around the old town after that, lots of pretty plazas and of course some old churches. I got my first stamp, so I am ready to start walking early tomorrow. But now I am ready for bed and hoping I will sleep well.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsRuta de la Lana, 2023
    112
    Day 3

    First day to Relleu. 20 km, 500 m up

    May 11, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    This four day alternative of the Lana goes through a much less industrialized and less developed part of the region. Our first day, I met Alun at 7 o’clock in the train station as we were going to Villajoyosa. The train is very efficient and goes right along the coast, which has a lot of overbuilding in my opinion.

    From Villajoyosa, after a café con leche, started walking. It was a late start, probably close to 9 AM, but since we had a short day, it was OK. We were lucky that it was cloudy, because there would not have been any shade. At about the halfway point, in Orxeta, we had a cold drink, (my first Fanta de Limón), and from there the trail got interesting. Mostly off-road, lots of great views of punishing looking rocky hills/ mountains. By about one we were in our destination, Relleu.

    Our somewhat pricey accommodation for today was Casa de los indianos, a heavily restored and very comfortable place from the 18th century. I had my first menú del dia in a down-home local place. Too much food, but I ate it all!

    After lunch, we walked up to the castle ruins. It’s a 12 century Moorish castle, pretty heavily destroyed. But the views, oh, the views. I’m back in my room now and will be asleep in less than an hour for sure. I am getting back in the Camino groove and had a great first day with no big muscle or foot problems, which is a huge stroke of good luck and fills me with gratitude.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsRuta de la Lana, 2023
    Day 4

    Relleu to Torremanzanas

    May 12, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Last night before I went to bed, I sat on the balcony of my pretty room, looking over the pretty square and the pretty church. The church bells struck nine as I went to bed. Little did I know that they would strike every hour on the hour all night. Funny thing was I slept fine, waking up every hour for a few minutes and then going right back to sleep.

    One of the perks of staying in a beautiful rustic Casa Rural is that you’re likely to get a good breakfast. This one was terrific. Good bread, good manchego, jamón serrano, avocados, tomatoes all went into a delicious toasted sandwich. More melon than I could eat and delicious Greek yoghurt. And did I mention the good coffee?! The owners, a retired Swedish couple, are wonderful.

    Our walk was short (19 Km) but had about 750 m of ascent. The first part, up to the pass, was through terraced olive and almond groves, with the occasional vines thrown in. Puig Campana was always in our sights till we went over the pass. Then we spent most of the rest of the walk in pine forests with its heavenly pine needle surface.

    Although the Municipal refuge for Pilgrims has just re-opened, I had already made a reservation in a hotel here in town. The owner, who is off on a motorcycle trip with her husband, asked her sister to come open up the complex for us. It’s a very nice place, lots of gardens, some bungalows, a good playground, etc. so very nice of these places to open just for those who are walking.

    We’ve had a good, filling meal in a very friendly place, and they have told us to just stay put till the thunder and lightening have passed. Spain is so very much in drought that we have to hope for rain, but we would appreciate it if it would start after we walk!

    Tomorrow will be a much longer day, but right now all is well with the world.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsRuta de la Lana, 2023
    Day 5

    Torremanzanas to Onil

    May 13, 2023 in Spain

    We had a choice of a 29 Km day or a 20 Km day. Though the 20 Km town, Ibi, looks like it would have been a nicer place to stay, we weren’t ready to stop since it was pretty early. We had already done the big elevation for the day, so it wasn’t much of an additional effort to go those extra 8 or 9 flat kilometers.

    The first 20 kms this morning were wonderful. Up up up for about 800 m and then some great views. We had some fog at the beginning, but when it broke we could see the ocean and Alicante, about 25 miles away. There was also a pozo de nieve/pou de neve, where snow was brought from as far away as France (thanks Elaine) and stored till warmer months, when it served to refrigerate food. We were standing there enjoying the views when a Seat 600 came up. That was the only car in Spain in 1970 when I lived there and it brought back all sorts of memories. I took a 600 km trip as one of three people in the backseat. If you could see the size of the backseat, you would marvel.

    When we got to Ibi, we went to the bar/restaurant recommended by Alan, the Cordobés. The place was closing because the town was in fiestas and they needed to prepare the place for their lunch guests. But when they saw that we were walking, and when they heard that Alan had been here in 2018, they cleared a space for us. Our waiter has been here since 2004 and is an avid hiker. He says he remembers Alan, but who knows. I took a picture.

    We got to Onil around 2 pm. It’s a non-descript highway hotel but has a restaurant that was packed and booked out. We had a very good lunch, but now there is really nothing to do. That’s one of the disadvantages of a roadside hotel. There is a castle about 3,Km away but it is closed. So I have to contain myself with washing my clothes, doing my stretches, and hopefully having a few WhatsApp conversations with home.

    The tracker function on my FindPenguins app seems to be going berserko, so, if you want to see what we’ve actually walked, the GPS tracks can be found on Wikiloc, peregrina2000.

    https://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/spatialArtifact…    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsRuta de la Lana, 2023
    1
    Day 6

    First long day 38 km to Caudete

    May 14, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 9 °C

    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

  • Laurie ReynoldsRuta de la Lana, 2023
    1
    1
    Day 7

    Caudete to Almansa

    May 15, 2023 in Spain

    The scenery is settling into flat land and cultivated fields. Mountains are now in the rear view mirror. Since it’s springtime, the crops are growing (lettuce, wheat, artichokes, corn) and the trees are green (lots of olives, almonds, and other fruit trees I can’t identify). But the surrounding hills and rocky outcrops are brown and desolate. We are not in wildflower country, which I was sort of expecting. But the landscape makes for more introspection, as the backdrop doesn’t grab my attention as much. So the hours are filled with thought about trivial things, interesting things, and even important things on occasion. But I have not yet solved any of life’s greatest problems.

    I have walked a route that crisscrosses with this one —the Levante from Valencia. The next two nights will be in places I’ve been before. For those who wonder why I would ever go back to the same place, here’s a passage from a Portuguese. Nobel prize winner, that I really love.

    "The end of one journey is simply the start of another. You have to see what you missed the first time, see again what you already saw, see in springtime what you saw in summer, in daylight what you saw at night, see the sun shining where you saw the rain falling, see crops growing, the fruit ripen, the stone which has moved, the shadow that was not there before. You have to go back to the footsteps already taken, to go over them again or add fresh ones alongside them.You have to start the journey anew. Always"
    Jose Saramago, A Journey to Portugal

    After a delicious lunch, it was time to visit the castle. All I can say is - fabulous.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsRuta de la Lana, 2023
    2
    Day 8

    Almansa to Alpera

    May 16, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    24 Km, 400 m elevation.
    Though there is still a lot of scrub land and barren rocky mountain escarpment, today’s short walk offered a much more pleasant landscape. There was more undulation, more bright green vineyards, a Civil War bunker, some flocks, and occasional small bursts of red poppies. I have been told that the shortage of wildflowers has to do with the drought, which certainly makes sense.

    We’re in a town of a few thousand, Alpera. The last time I was here, I slept in the albergue on its first day of operation. Tonight I’m sleeping in the Hostsl Cazador, a roadside place with a decent restaurant attached. The last time I was here, the mayor had the local guide drive us up to a cave about 7 Km away with paintings that are between 10,000 and 20,000 years old. The supreme disappointment was that the paintings, in pristine condition when they were found in 1910, have deteriorated so much that the only way to “see” the figures was to look at the drawing and then squint over at the wall where the guide was pointing. The deterioration was caused by the fact that the villagers threw water on the paintings to make them more brilliant. After 50 or 60 years, they were virtually impossible to see. So I did not try to get up there this time.

    Having so much time in a village of about 2,000 can be relaxing or boring. Today it’s relaxing. My lower back has been acting up, so I am spending more time stretching. There’s a good fruit store in town, and the square livens up when the kids get home from school, so those will be the afternoon attractions.

    And as frequently happens, a little diversion popped up. We saw a sign for a pozo de nieve, a snow well, where snow was stored and turned into ice. I learned that, even though these structures tend to have a fair amount of construction above ground, the inside goes down about 20 m into the ground, which is where the snow was stored. The above ground structure was there to provide insulation, and to give access to the snow/ice. This one was built in the 16th century.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsRuta de la Lana, 2023
    4
    1
    Day 9

    Alpera to Alatoz, 27 km

    May 17, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    The first three days of this camino were in the mountains. Lots of huffing and puffing on steep ascents, spectacular views at the top, and some descents requiring lots of attention and careful picking of the rocky route down. Then came a couple of days, like the one from Villena to Caudete or Caudete to Almansa, that were flat, brown, monotonous, dull, exposed, alongside the highway. Those are the penitential days. You just walk. But the last two days fall somewhere in the middle. Varied terrain, all off-road, little settlements, varied crops, steady ascents where you just get in your stride, feel the breeze, and ooze with gratitude for being alive. Though there aren’t many flowers, there are a million shades of green—grapevines, almond trees, olive trees, wheat, scrub oak, some corn even. And an occasional poppy field.

    It was a 27 Km today and it felt good all the way. I stopped for a long rest after the ascent. Though my body was delighted to have the pack removed, I had had none of the lower back pain from the days before. I’m sure all the stretching has had something to do with it, but more importantly I reread the message from @El Cascayal about how to pack a pack to eliminate back strain. Thank you Aymarah..Several major modifications seemed to have worked a charm.

    I’m in a newly renovated Casa Rural. It’s beautiful 35€ the night. In fact, only one other person has slept in the house. It’s been redone by a local family that has decided to renovate several places here and has done so with great attention to historical details. After a lunch in the cousins’ restaurant, I walked out to the old flour factory where the family is restoring the building and the mill itself. Clearly labors of love.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsRuta de la Lana, 2023
    4
    Day 10

    Alatoz to Alcala del Jucar.

    May 18, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    We decided to take a short day to this admittedly very touristy place, drop our packs in the hotel, and take another 10-12 Km stroll off-camino and along the gorge. It was very nice, and it’s incredible how much easier it is to walk without a pack, even one in the 12-15 pound range. By the end of the walk we had covered about 32 km, give or take, and that doesn’t include our afternoon jaunt up to the castle for another couple of K. So, as is frequently the case, short days usually wind up having as many kilometers as normal days.

    The walk to Alcala from Alpera was all off road. All through ag fields. It was clear that the drought is taking a huge toll. We walked through massive fields of totally ruined wheat. Dead almond trees. The hotel owner tells us that no one alive in town can remember ever having a complete crop failure like this year. Now they’re just praying for rain so that all the trees don’t die — olives, almonds, and what I learned were pistachio trees.

    Alcala del Jucar is built on the side of a huge cliff at a horseshoe bend in the Jucar river. We walked in from the opposite side of the gorge, and had some jaw-dropping vistas. Just gorgeous. Its castle is the 15th century replacement of the Moorish castle that was destroyed. Also great views from there as you might imagine.

    Though it is a touristy place, the hotel owner sent us to a very good restaurant a little bit off the tourist trail. As luck would have it, the restaurant was Completo. But we were able to make a reservation for 330, which gave us an hour to walk around the upper town where the castle is. The streets are a total maze of curvy, narrow streets, connected by little narrow stairways. There doesn’t seem to be any camino marking, and I think the best bet for tomorrow is to just head up for the castle, and then look for the Camino behind it somewhere.

    This seems to be a very popular place for the end of year trips that many Spanish schools take. Apparently there are camps in the area with capacity for about 1000 school-age kids. We’ve seen groups kayaking, hiking, rock, climbing, and just generally having a lot of fun. It’s really a beautiful place to do that.

    Our punishment for having taken this short day and detour, and since Clare will be waiting in Monteagudo on Sunday, is that the next three days are going to be pretty long. The saving grace seems to be that there won’t be too much elevation, fingers crossed.    Read more

  • Laurie ReynoldsRuta de la Lana, 2023
    Day 11

    Alcalá del Jucar to El Herrumblar

    May 19, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    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

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