This was a long and scenic day. We decided to stick together, since there were supposed to be some difficult sections, and because cell phone reception was iffy. First, a side trip on the GR 86, for which we were really glad to have GPS tracks. Even with them, some time was spent wandering!  The…

Leaving Atienza, I carried out a meandering tour of the old city, because I couldn’t seem to find my way out. Then the walk had some nice variety. The high point of the day was after our walking, with a taxi trip to the small but remarkable church of San Baudelio. Laurie had first learned…

We were staying in different places, Laurie left earlier than I, because she wanted to make a 4 km side trip to see a Romanesque church in Carabias. (In fact we didn’t see each other all day until meeting for dinner at the Hotel Convento de Sta Ana.) I was dressed and ready for rain,…

We have departed from the traditional Lana route for two days  to take a side route to Siguenza. This is a popular hiking trail, marked very well by associations for 4 different routes.  It  follows the Rio Dulce through green forest, babbling brooks,  dewy grass,  chirping birds, and vultures high in the canyon. What more…

Just as we were settling down in our sleeping bags last night, there was a banging at the albergue door.  Two young Spanish cyclists had arrived and were looking for a place to sleep. Since we were occupying the one bedroom, which had 2 sets of bunks (4 beds) plus a stack of 8 mattresses,…

We got up to a foggy morning, but it soon burned off. It was a great day walking. The first major stop was Trillo, a touristy place for hikes to Las Tetas, and an extensive mountain biking park, as well as temporary workers at tge nuclear plant. We sat for quite a while at an…

Today involved about 10 km on clay! It wasn’t really wet, but still caked on shoes. I found it VERY tiring and was exhausted in the first half of the day. I didn’t find the day very interesting. We elected not to crawl under the illegal fence blocking the path through Villaescusa de Palositos, so…

Today was a very satisfying day – some beautiful and varied terrain, a river crossing requiring removal of shoes. We had been warned that it might be very slippery, but it wasn’t. Then about 6 km along a highway but traffic was minimal. Made it to Valdeolivas in the nick of time when a baptism…