Molinaseca to Borrenes - Camino Invierno

I walked about 25 km today but it felt almost as hard as yesterday. I did make two errors which probably added an extra kilometre or two.

First, in Ponferrada, I thought the start of the Camino Invierno was close to the Castillo de Templarios. In fact, I had walked past it and if I had turned around I would have seen the sign. But instead I got to walk with Giorgio from Vancouver and have coffee with Umberto from Italy. And I helped some Spaniards find the Invierno route as well.

The other mistake was when I got to a junction where I chose to take a “shortcut.” After walking a bit I realized I was on the wrong trail. And the trail I wanted was straight up! I did save some kilometres but it was very hard.

Otherwise the walk was lovely. Mostly flat to Ponferrada, then quite hilly. You will see if you look at the Relive videos. One is the Camino Frances to Ponferrada and the other is the Invierno to Borrenes. I didn’t mean to zero my watch, but since I did, it worked out.

You might be wondering what is this Camino Invierno. If you know Spanish you will know that means winter. There are many Camino routes in Spain 🇪🇸, all leading to Santiago de Compostela, the resting place of the remains of Santiago, the apostle St James.

The most travelled route is the Camino Frances. At one point someone decided that there should be an alternative route in winter, when some of the mountain passes are impassable due to snow. The Camino de Invierno was born. It is a bit longer than the same part of the Frances, and quieter, as few people know about it.

You may have guessed that you don’t have to wait until winter to walk this route. So far I have seen nine pilgrims. Tonight in my albergue there are just two of us. Very quiet.Read more