Day 14 - Navarrete to Azofra - 23km

The day without my backpack was a pretty good day. The forecasted rain didn’t materialize until now (it is almost 4pm). In fact, the afternoon got a little sunny and hot for the last 6km.

I woke up at 6am to my alarm. I wanted to be on the road by 7am at the latest so I could get ahead of the rain. It was still dark so once I left Navarrete, I needed to put on my headlamp again for about 15 minutes.

The province of La Roja (which I am in now), is known for their wines and I feel like the last two days has been almost all vineyards. I am not complaining though, the grapes are beautiful to look at, especially on the rolling hills.

I took an option today to go to ventosa. It is about an additional 1km, but it had a cafe and a bathroom which I desperately needed. It was 7km before we reached the cafe and I had my first rest. I was definitely walking much faster without my big backpack and wondered if it would catch up to me at the end of the day. After I used the facilities and nourished myself with tortilla and Coke Zero, I was on my way.

I reached Najera around noon. I stopped there and had a longer break as I had 6km to go and the rain didn’t look like it was threatening at all. Most people will be staying in this larger city, but Jörg and I weren’t fans the first time around, so I decided to not stay this time.

I arrived in Afofra around 2pm and my backpack wasn’t here. I wasn’t too worried as I have an AirTag inside the bag and it said it was about 8kms away. It showed up about 10 minutes later which was great. I showered, washed clothes and headed into town for food. The restaurant wouldn’t feed me. They said they have a pilgrim meal at 6pm so I went across the street to the supermarket, which was the size of my bedroom, only a few people could fit at a time. I picked up some snacks for the trail tomorrow and enjoyed a small bag of plain potato chips.

Now I am just waiting for my laundry to dry and the pilgrims meal. I am going to take my backpack with me tomorrow. As much as it was easier to walk, I missed it. The day pack I have is only built for carrying things in the evening, no ventilation so my back got hot and wet real fast! In fact, my back started to hurt a little and I wondered if it was the smaller backpack as well, as all the weight would be on the shoulders instead of the hips.

I haven’t made a reservation for tomorrow but I am not too worried. I am only going 15km and I am 6km ahead of the rest of the people who are going to try and stay there. I get to see the church with the chickens, but I will tell you about that tomorrow.

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