Alcazaren to Puento Duero (16.36 Miles / 36.34 kms)

Today I was going to head out the door and make it a short day. Only around sixteen miles would get me to the albergue in the early afternoon, which would allow me a more relaxing afternoon and evening. As always, things did not turn out that way. First I had to bandage my feet because of all things, I developed a blister on the ball of my left foot. It’s in the exact place I had the large one that sent me to the emergency room, and then sidelined me for two weeks, on my trek to Canada. I know part of the issue is my tender feet that haven’t walked or been conditioned in eighteen months.

And just as I was getting ready to leave a little before eight I remembered that I was having the replacement bolts for the Wheelie sent to me and I forgot what city it was being sent. As it turned out it was Alcazaren, so off I went to find the local post office (Correos) that I had used for the address. Unfortunately, there is no post office here! The address I found and gave to the Wheelie manufacture turned out to be the city hall. I walked there but it was closed and I waited until almost ten and no one showed up. That was the end of my early day!

It had rained hard last night and stop in the morning. The section of the Camino to Puente Duero was supposed to less sandy and some of the literature noted that the sand wasn’t as bad after a rain, so I decided to take the chance and walk the Camino and not the highway.

The Camino started as a wide road and the surface was hard due to the rain and it was fairly easy to pull the Wheelie. It ran through the pine forest for four or five miles and was mostly level. The air smelled of fresh rain and it was quiet and peaceful except for the sounds of the birds. I really enjoyed the Camino through the forest now that I wasn’t struggling with the soft sand.

After a while the landscape turned to open meadows and gently rolling hills and then it crossed a river. I stopped there and had a snack and emptied my shoes of all the sand. The rest of the way to Valdestillas was mostly open fields of farm land.

Valdestillas was a larger town that took a while to get through. It appeared to be newer and didn’t have the typical old stone houses, yet it had the typical big old stone church.

Once out of town the Camino crossed over a river by an old stone and brick bridge. It then moved onto the shoulder of a fairly busy highway for about two miles, which wasn’t one of my favorites. One of the comments on the Camino de Madrid websites stated that one of the beauties about the Camino de Madrid is that it is away from any highway, yet this was one of many sections that were next to or on a highway. After the two miles it moved onto a gravel frontage road and then narrow trails that ran next to the highway.

The weather had been nice most of the day with cloud cover keeping the temperature down and making it a good day for trekking. The weather forecast was for rain in the afternoon, and with several miles still to go I saw the dark clouds moving my way and I could see the rain blacken the sky. I was fairly tired and had stopped several times to take a break, but when I saw those clouds coming my way I probably walked faster than I ever have on a Camino. There was one last climb uphill before dropping down to Puente Duero.

Once in town it was about a half mile to the albergue and I could feel the light sprinkle of rain. It wasn’t more than ten minutes after I walked into the albergue that it started to rain fairly hard. Just made it in time!

The albergue is noted as being one of the most pilgrim friendly on the Camino de Madrid and it actually has a hospitalero (host), a German volunteer. It is a very friendly place, unlike the albergues with no hospitalero so far this one is typical of many on busier Caminos. Lights out at ten and silence. It’s only fair to those who want a good night’s sleep and an early rise. Alan, Kim, Linda and Claudio from Belgium, and one Spanish bike rider are also staying here.

I was lucky because Kim had some food for me because I got in so late. The restaurant here doesn’t serve dinner until after nine, and that is only if there are enough customers.

Tomorrow I will definitely leave early because the hospitalero is waking us up at seven and we have to be out by eight. The albergues have been nice, and most of the time that’s all there is for lodging, but as some of us were talking about, a hotel once in a while is a nice break. I’ll be looking for one the next few days if I can find one,

Weather looks like it will be a nice day for trekking.

As always, please excuse the typos, grammar, and spelling, etc., because I am writing this on my phone and don’t always review it.

Best wishes,

Ted

Forest Camino trail.

Meadows on the Camino.

Camino river crossing.

Back on the farm lands.

Entering Valdestillas

Another river crossing.

A little bumpy Camino.

Camino trail along the highway.

Rain clouds chasing me!

The albergue, my home for the night.

Pleasant as can be.

Two rooms and two bunk beds.

My new blister. The other toes are just wrapped to prevent blisters.

As the guide books says, the Camino de Madrid is flat. Ha!