Tres Cantos to Manzanares el Real (16.96 miles/27.31k)

Today is Friday and my first day on the Camino de Madrid. I left for Madrid Tuesday morning, and arrived Wednesday, but my departure was not without some excitement, or should I say stress. I broke the number one rule for hikers, which is to get your shoes/boots well ahead of time and wear and test them before you go. I thought I was set with the two brand new boots I had stored for over a year. Hoka and Merrell, the same styles that I had worn on both my trek to Canada and both Caminos, neither with any issues. However, because I thought the originals I had used were slightly loose, I got the new ones a half size smaller. Stupidly I never tried or used them because I didn’t want to wear them out as I usually only get around 500 miles out of boots. So, five days before leaving I walked about 10-12 miles with both of them and ended up with sore toes and a blister. Ouch! I scrambled to find the same boots a half size larger couldn’t find them locally. Out of desperation I just ordered both styles online on Saturday. I paid extra for priority shipping but had no guarantee that I would get them by Monday. For a backup I went to REI and got a nice pair of Keens. I tested them by walking around the store for two hours and then wore them home and around the house Sunday and Monday. Unfortunately I didn’t use them on a long walk because I wanted my feet to heal (no pun intended). So, Tuesday morning, about twenty minutes before leaving, FedEx showed up at our door with the Merrells. What do I do?! Take them both, or at least to the airport! So, a mile from the airport I stopped at the Carl’s Junior on Century Blvd. and walked around the parking lot with the Keens. Then of course I did the same with the Merrells. The security guards there were keeping an eye on me. I know it seems nuts, but I am walking well over four hundred miles and it’s an important piece of equipment, and actually the most important. I chose the Merrells and after today’s walk it was confirmed that I made the right choice.

My flight was uneventful and very nice on British Airways. Well, not totally uneventful. I had requested a bulkhead and aisle seat so I could stretch out my leg and knee. As it turns out bulkhead seats are also were they place people with babies. And, I ended up sitting next to a woman with a nine month baby girl. I then ended up with her on my lap (the baby that is) every time the mother had to go to the rest room or get baby stuff. I had always been curious what the fold down tray on the bulkhead wall was for? Now I know, it’s for holding a baby bassinet. Heck, it really wasn’t that bad because it actually made the time go by quicker. Besides she didn’t cry and the flight attendant move them to a flight attendant seat during part of the flight. I was just hoping people would think I was just an older guy with a young wife and baby, instead of a grandfather.

I arrived in Madrid Wednesday about three in the afternoon and spent two hours getting to my hotel at Madrid Centro. What a pleasant surprise Centro Plaza turned out to be with the thousands of people walking and shopping the old plaza which is loaded with restaurants and stores. I loved walking around the plaza and people watching.

The train ride and short walk from the Sol train station should have taken about twenty minutes, but with my limited reading and speaking Spanish, I ended up on the wrong train! Wrong Way Ted is back on this Camino. Thank goodness my understanding of Spanish was good enough that I could understand the directions the security guard on the train gave me to get off and back on the right one.

After checking in at the hostal I went to the office of The Asociación de Amigos de los Caminos de Santiago de Madrid, which is a private organization run by volunteers that promote and maintain the CM. I picked up my Camino passport and some information about the Camino Madrid, which after today’s trek I question.

This morning I headed out the door at 7:30 and walked the three blocks to the Sol train station at the Centro Plaza. As I walked down the stairs I was caught of guard by the buzz of all the people rushing to catch their train. It was really like watching an ant farm. I guess it’s the same in most big cities throughout the world, the morning rush to work. But it seemed like such a strange contrast to what I had on my mind and where I was going. 

I had decided to start the CM at Tres Cantos, a suburb of Madrid, because I didn’t want to walk through Madrid, especially during the morning rush. Tres Cantos was only a twenty minute ride. I went across the street from the station and assemble the Wheelie with lots of stares.

I had not walked more than a half block from the station when I noticed the first yellow Camino directional arrow on a light post. The arrows are great but you have to be on guard, especially in the cities, or you will miss one that may be on a curb, rock, telephone pole, etc. It is actually much better to walk with someone so you have four eyes looking. 

The arrows took me a few blocks across the freeway and train tracks and out onto the open fields where I could see the rolling hills and mountains to the north. That special feeling of being on a Camino immediately came back to me.

It is Spring and the hills are all beautifully green and covered in yellow and purple flowers, fairly similar to the mustard seed in bloom back in California. 

For the first five miles the terrain on the Camino was just rolling hills and not at all flat like the description from the Amigos de Madrid. The Camino at this point was beautiful because it follows a small creek lined with trees most of the way to Colmenar Viejo. It crosses the creek eight to ten times without bridges. There are stone blocks placed across the concrete apron that you can walk on to stay dry, but that would have required me to unhook the Wheelie and pull it across as I walked on the blocks. Luckily the water was fairly shallow and I just walked through the water. Dry feet every time, until the last crossing of course! 

It was in the eighties and I stupidly forgot to get water before starting out. The first town, Colmenar Viejo, was about seven miles and I couldn’t wait to get something to drink. Until Colmenar I had only seen one mountain biker and a recreational hiker. 

Once I got to Colmenar Viejo I started to get my uneasy feeling about being in a Spanish city with all the narrow and winding streets. I go into high alter looking for those yellow directional arrows that could be anywhere. And it never fails, I got lost. I walked in circles (see attached map), which added to the mileage I walked. Even though it’s easier to find the arrows out in the country, they are not always plentiful or well placed. Sometimes there are long stretches without any indication you are on the Camino.

The night before starting I got a warning from another pilgrim who was a few days ahead of me, that the terrain outside of Colmenar Viejo was very rocky and washed out, and that I should consider an alternate way around. I was confident from reading the literature, and information from the Amigos de Madrid, that the CM was fairly flat, smooth, wide, and away from the roads. So on I went, until I got to that rocky washed out stretch, which went on for almost two miles! It was tough! Not only was it difficult to pull the Wheelie through and over the rutted areas, but it was so steep in places that I was concerned about slipping or falling and possibly injuring my knee. I had a mountain biker stop and asked me if I was alright after he saw me struggling. It was nice to see someone else out there. 

Once I was through the roughest part of that section I encountered several more section that were narrow, steep uphills and downhills, and washed out. I just look at those tough sections as just part of the Camino experience, but I just wondered where the Amigos de Camino Madrid get their info? They also note that the Camino de Madrid is a good Camino for a first timer, yet only a little over six hundred people finish it from Madrid to Santiago every year. The total elevation gain, ups after downs, for the day was 1,837’. Is that level?

I got to Manzanares el Real close to six and I was definitely feeling my lack of conditioning. This is the most I have walked in eighteen months, with fourteen miles being the most in the last few weeks. I was a little concerned about my lodging because I arraigned it at the last minute. The first day of walking is very important because it can set the tempo for the whole trek, but the first night is even more important to me. I was up in the air about where to stay as there were a few hostals/hotels, but for me staying in hotels too often, though nice, takes away from the feeling of the Camino. I had read that two Camino enthusiasts, Ray and Rosa, who love everything about the Camino, had opened their home in Manzanares el Real to pilgrims. I had called her the night before and set it up. Once I got to town I called her and she picked me up because their house is on the outskirts of town and in the opposite direction of the Camino.

When I met her I was a little surprised how happy she was to see me as a pilgrim. What person would hung, and Spanish kiss (one kiss on each side of a cheek) a sweaty and stinky pilgrim. Well, Rosa did! Even with a nose holding warning from me.

As it turned out it was an absolutely wonderful first night on the Camino! Both the accommodations and my hoists were great. Ray and Rosa built their beautiful little guest house just for pilgrims. They don’t charge for the stay and just ask that you leave a small donation in a box on the table, if you feel like it. They do charge a whopping €10 (euros) for dinner and breakfast. Laundry is an extra €3, and everything in the refrigerator, ranging from beer to various drinks and snacks, is just a €.80 donation. 

Unfortunately, or fortunately, for me, they were so pleasant to talk to, and full of information, that I stayed until after ten talking to them. And before I left Rosa asked what time I wanted breakfast. 

I got back to my room so late that I was so tired that I struggled to write my blog. So, this extra long writing is a combination of a tired body and mind, and a late night socializing.

Tomorrow I go to Cercedilla, and then the big decision? Do I trek 21 miles over the mountain pass with a 4,000’ elevation gain in the five miles over rugged rocky trails, or should I go around since I am not in the best shape, and of course my knee is still untested? 

As always, please excuse the typos, grammar, and spelling, as I am to tired to review this.

Best wishes to all,

Ted

Starting out in Tres Cantos and unpacking the Wheelie.

My first sighting of the yellow Camino directional arrow.

The start of the Camino de Madrid in Tres Cantos.

One of ten creek crossings.

Traffic slowdown on the Camino.

Camino following the flow of the creek.

Camino marker.

Approaching Colmenar Viejo.

The smooth Camino. It’s steeper than it looks.

Camino crossing a redone old Roman bridge.

Steep decent into Manzanares el Real.

Manzanares el Real.

My hoists Rosa and Ray.

My home for the night.

View from my room.

My room and bed for the night all to myself.

Nice bath too!

Notice the crazy path I walked. Lost!

That doesn’t look level to me.

A map of the Camino de Madrid.

The yellow route is the Camino de Madrid leaving in Madrid.

The Camino de Madrid to Sahagún.