Manzanares el Real to Cercedilla (14.51 miles / 23.36 kms).

Last night I told Rosa and Ray I wanted to eat breakfast at 8:00, and served in bed. Well, not really, but I did make it later than I wanted because I wanted to enjoy the guest room, and of course sleep later because I went to sleep so late. Staying up late is what I usually find myself doing on the Camino because you meet so many nice and interesting people and the evenings are usually when you have a chance to sit down and talk. This morning was another case in point, I sat and chatted with them and then didn’t start until almost ten!

Both Ray and Rosa drove me to the starting point and it felt a little strange because I have just know these people for a few hours, yet I felt like they were long time friends that were taking me to the airport or train station and I was sad to be leaving. Just the special feelings you get from people you meet on the Camino I think.

We pulled into a large parking area of a park which was a staging area for different outdoor activities. The whole area is a draw for outdoor activities for people from Madrid because of the mountains. It was actually fairly busy with lots of mountain bikers, day hikers, and what appeared to be backpackers. It is a starting point for hikers and backpackers into the mountains that surround the valley to the north of Madrid. The same one mountain range that I will hopefully be crossing tomorrow. Most of the mountain bikers will be on the Camino and a few other trails that run in close proximity to the Camino.

I said my good byes with both a good hug and the Spanish kiss, with two to each side of the cheek (not like the other European kiss of three), to Rosa, and Ray of course. Though he said men usually don’t kiss check each other, I made him laugh when I did it to him anyway.

So off I went on what I had read, and had been told by Ray, was the short twelve mile wide, level, and smooth Camino all the way to Cercedilla. It started beautifully with the Camino following a small creek and lined with trees. I noticed the vegetation and trees changing from low oak type trees to more alpine, or pine trees, the nearer I got to Cercedilla.

Yes, the Camino was fairly smooth but not flat, for a few miles, but then, yes here comes the then, it started to climb uphill, not gently, but steeply. Ok, where is that wide, level, and smooth Camino? It changed drastically into a steep, rocky, and very narrow Camino. I know people’s perception of time, space, distances, etc., are all different, and I take what people tell me about a route, trail, etc., with a grain of salt, because I know their intention is not to lie but to be positive or paint a pretty picture. So every day I start my day hoping for the best, and just in case, prepare for the worst. Well, I guess a little total elevation gain of 1,837 feet is what they call level in Spain. That’s just what you have to expect when you are on the Camino.

The Camino after those first few miles did switch back and forth constantly from that wide smooth trail to a very narrow, almost too narrow for the Wheelie, trail that sometimes went straight up and zig-zagged over rocky sections. Yet overall it was very beautiful, from the rock hillsides to the snow covered mountains a few miles away, the creeks, and the flower covered fields.

However, there is definitely a difference how I feel physically after a few miles of flat trekking as compared to the ups and downs, and I was feeling pretty tired by late afternoon. Part of that too is my lack of conditioning.

Coming through the little tourist town of Mataelpino I stopped at a nice cafe for a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice and a goat cheese and grilled glazed onion sandwich. I found that when I run out of energy orange juice always gives me an energy boost. I usually carry a bottle or carton of OJ with me, but you can find fresh squeezed juice in most restaurants, bars, and cafes in Spain.

Even with the pick-me-ups, by the time I got to Cercedilla I was pretty spent. My goal was to stay at the furthest place outside of town so that it would reduce the distance I would have to trek tomorrow over the Puerto de la Fuenfria (pass). Ray had kindly called the Alberque Villa Castora, a youth hostel, that was about a mile and a half beyond Cercedilla. The last mile and a half was all uphill and part of that 650 meter (2,000’) climb to Puerto de la Fuenfria. The road up is actually the Camino and there is a wide sidewalk made out of large rough stone blocks all the way up to the hostel. Pulling the Wheelie on the sidewalk was not pleasant, but it will give me a preview of what I will face tomorrow as much of the way up is on an old Roman road that is suppose to be pretty rough.

When I got to the hostel I was surprised by how large it was and how much it looked like a hotel. It is several stories tall and sleeps hundreds of people. It’s actually called a juvenile hostel, which prepared me to be out of place with hundreds of teenagers running around. I was pleasantly surprised how professional the checkin office was, more like a business office. Though it’s a youth hostel it makes special accommodations for pilgrims and keeps them separate from the other guests. The cost for my room was €30, including dinner, breakfast, and of all things, a picnic lunch to go. I was on the third floor and had a nice clean room, with a nice hotel style bath. Even linens, pillows, and blankets, but no towels.

As I was checking in the only other pilgrims staying there came in to say hello. Four Spanish mountain bike riders that had stopped to talk to me earlier in the day on the trail. They are also going to Santiago and obviously will be there well ahead of me. They were a little concerned about going over the pass as they had heard it was a rough surface on the Roman Road.

Dinner was at 8:30, early for Spain, and a little strange. I walked into the large cafeteria with 20-30 tables, six chairs to a table, with white table cloths ready for a giant banquet, yet no one was in there! I asked the woman behind the counter if I had the wrong time, and she just said, “solo.” Dinner was the typical Spanish specialty, tortilla depatata, an egg and potato type pie, that’s served for breakfast, lunch, and now dinner. There was also watery vegetable soup, a hunk of white bread, a yogurt cup, and a glass of water. Almost like prison food. Not really!

There was one other woman there, maybe the cook. This place must be government run because employing two people to service one guest can’t be profitable. And it’s Saturday!

I am enjoying my room because it is nice and on the Caminos you never know what you’ll get from one day to the next. I plan to get an early start tomorrow and will skip the 9:30 am breakfast.

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 the morning from Manzanares del Real.

Camino.

Camino. The rocky hills look a lot like Southern California.

Flowers in bloom on the Camino.

I had to unhook the Wheelie to get it up the steps and over the bridge. Notice the trees and vegetation changing.

Descending down to Cercedilla. More of a pine forest here.

Alberque Villa Castor, my home for the night.

Sparse but clean and new.

Not bad for an alberque.

Those that look level to you?!