Something about old bones

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Reveille and breakfast

I had woken about 0600, but had been warned that guests weren´t to rise before 0700. So I quietly tidied up and waited. While one might have argued about the precise timing, at a few minutes to seven, there was a reveille played into the bedrooms. It was not so much that I expected it, but it wasn´t unexpected. Reveille was followed by a range of motivational music, and breakfast was at 0730 - pronto.

A Boring, Difficult Morning

According to my guidebook, this morning would bring three long, hard climbs. What it didn´t say was that it would also bring some short savage climbs in and out of creeklines, and two very long stretches of broken up forestry track. The intermediate destination was San Juan de Ortega, and by the time I got there, I hadn´t been able to focus on much but where I was going to put my feet each step of the way.

Conrad, the painter, Sean and Andrew passed me early, but Andrew was being slowed by blistered feet, and he and I passed a couple of times in the morning. They were headed straight through to Burgos, not something that appealed to me.

Entering San Juan de Ortega was some relief. I wondered why anyone would want to settle such a place, but then I have seen similar places near home where some family has ventured into a valley and brought in their cattle, cleared the scrub and made a start at farming. This just looked much older, with a few houses perched high in a wooded valley perhaps better left to the forest than the plough.

Atapuerca

This morning I had made a short, relatively flat walk from Espinosa del Camino to Villafrance-Montes de Oca before getting into any serious climbing. Tonight I was aiming to stay at Atapuerca, where tomorrow morning´s climb was going to be the first thing I faced.

I must admit that wandering 6km off track to visit the digging site did not appeal, and then I got caught at the visitors centre by being either too late for the morning session, or too early for the afternoon session of its opening.

The albergue was great - although there are some different interpretations what what a reasonable space is for showering and some other bodily functions.

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Photos

Granon
At dawn

On the Camino
Birdlife

On the Camino
Pretty horrible forestry road - where I had come from.

On the Camino
Pretty horrible forestry road - what I had to look forward to.

Comments

[Fiona]

Have I missed some blogs?
Hi Doug. I got back from Florida this afternoon and have much enjoyed reading the story so far. It is now 14 April and the last blog seems to be 10 April. I did get 2 new link e-mails just now but one was for 9 Apr and one for 10 Apr. Also the blog for 10 Apr doesn't have a 'next entry' button to click. Perhaps you haven't been able to write for a few days? You seem to be walking on your own a lot more than I expected. I personally think that's good - time for reflection is important. Are you feeling exhausted or are you getting fitter every day?

[dougfitz]

Blogging Barriers
The biggest barrier to blogging is getting to places that don´t have the internet, or so few kiosks that it is impossible to get on. So I have been unable to make blog entries for several days. Have just given it a long burst with basic transcription of my notebook.