Kinda damp! Yesterday it rained all day, some 29 km or 7 hours of it! But I must consider myself lucky that this is the first day it has rained all day in some 58 days of walking. You go along, head down watching where you put your feet so, as they say in racing parlance, the going is soft. Part of your vision is obscured by your hood; you fiddle with it to get it right, excellent, it´s OK. Where do I go on the track? It looks good here but no, there are stones making it rough; looks better on that side over there so over you go. 50 metres on it´s getting too soft here, better try the crown of the track, looks firm there, so change. Oh no! There are rough stones here now, what´s it like ahead? A smooth path seems be just off there on the left. Previous walkers have made it that so it must be OK. Move over to that path on the edge of the track. Aieeee…doggone it! I saw that stone so I did I come to kick it?! Oh well, the pain´ll only last a couple of minutes. It must be the 1337th stone I´ve kicked since starting this trek – but, touch wood, the feet are still in good shape. Ah good, here comes some tarmac so I don´t have to keep looking at the ground. I can look around a bit more, but the hood has slipped in that gust of wind, needs adjusting….Why´s that bloke in his car – the first in 20 minutes - waving his arm at me? Wants me on the pilgrims´ path or is he saying “Buen camino”?
At the end of the day a fair bit of the outside clothing was wet or damp so Rule Number One had to be applied. Rule Number One? Yes, one set of kit must be kept dry at all times so that it can be put on in when one stops walking. If the wet / damp clothes are not dry by the morning on they go again. So it was this morning as there was little chance of drying out clothes in an Albergue where the temperature was 13C. Putting some on my sleeping bag during the night helped but they were still slightly damp. Dried the boots partially in the bar opposite.
Looked out this morning: crescent, waning moon visible. Good, no rain. Hang socks out to dry on rucksack. After sunrise leaden skies where I was, but over there you can see the sun coming up. Where´s the wind? It´s coming from where the sun is, in the east, so that means it will a clear sky here soon……Later on, where´s that blue sky? It´s still over there…Come on, come here where I am……Oh no, feels like raindrops, on with the wet weather gear again. But no rain fell, the wind got up and it became really strong so it moved me around on the track.
The journey seemed never ending today on the Calzada Romana or Roman Way. I elected to follow the old Camino rather than a more direct route beside a road. The guide book advised switching to the road route at a point I calculated be 20 km from my starting point. So where is this point? I am out in the open in virtually featureless country. How long to take to walk 20 km? Leaving at 0755 hrs I should be there around 1255 at my speed. It´s important I get this turning right because if not and I go straight on I arrive at a river which, after rain, is crossable only by swimming! At 1235 a junction comes into view, track going off in the right direction, across a level crossing…that must be it, but no signs to indicate where it leads and I cannot quite see due to the folds in the ground. Take it….ah yes it´s OK I can see another walker in the distance going the right way.
Eventually arrived at Manzilla de las Mulas after 33 km on the trail. Leon tomorrow…
That young Frenchman, Philippe, I mentioned a couple of days back: had supper with him 2 weeks ago and asked him why he is doing the Camino a second time. He had some sort of injury to his leg some 2 years ago which put him in bed for 2-3 months and he wanted to see that it was now fine, plus he felt a spiritual need to do it again from where he lived in the Basque country near SJPP. The last I saw of him was near the Rioja Alta Golf Club at Cirueña. He caught me up.
“I thought it was you,” he said, “by the shape of your stick”. We talked for a few minutes as we went along. “I feel really inspired by an old boy I met yesterday while walking, and today I feel in good form because I have learned the Pilgims´ Song. I can easily do 30 km.” So saying he speeded up and sang the song as he went off into the distance. Within 2 hours he was a small dot way in front of me. What enthusiasm! Not met him again since.
Still lots of pigrims on the Camino: anywhere between 6 and 20 in the municipal albergues.
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