Day Six

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Day Six

Cizar Menor to Puenta la Reina - 20.3 km

Today's trek started two hours before dawn at 4:45 am. I wanted to beat the heat. My fellow walkers all had the same plan. I had to use my LED headlamp to watch my footing as well as to not miss the markers pointing my way! That would be bad.

The hike heads west out of town and climbs over a ridge line ( incline of approx 770 m) towards a row of wind mills. At the top of this ridge line, I remember commenting to a fellow walker that either my pack was missing something or I was getting stronger and she echoed the same comments. Here at the top you can rest a bit with a roadside merchant selling the strongest espresso I've ever had, whoa!! There is a monument/sculpture there as well paying homage to the centuries of pilgrims who have passed this spot. Pretty cool when you think about it.

The rest of the trek is downhill with the first stretch to the valley floor being treacherous in places with slippery footing. Once you are down, then you can finally settle into a nice rhythm. The cadence of your steps and sound of your own breathing kind of puts you in a zen-state.

Passing many picturesque villages along the way, I arrived at Puenta le Reina at 12:30 pm ending my eight hours on foot and not dying of heat stroke.

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