Today’s walk was challenging. Very cold with temperatures down near 0ºC with constant rain, wind and the occasional hint of snow. It was super cold walking and my hands in the useless gloves were very cold. I had to constantly keep the fingers moving to get the blood to flow. I kept the pace of walking up as well to keep warm. It really was not a nice day for a walk. Anyway, we made it safe and sound to our destination for the evening, Belorado.
The stay at the monastery in Santo Domingo was very nice and the nuns were so hospitable and friendly. We started our day with Mass in their chapel and a simple breakfast before we set out.
The nuns were around the corner to the right separate from the rest of the congregation which was Ron and myself with two other ladies.
Rain was forecast for the whole day. The iPhone weather app was quite correct in its predictions for the day. It was raining when we left town and didn’t let up the whole walk which came in just under 25kms. The scenery combined with the weather did not at all provide great photo opportunities so from the outset I’ll say the photos for today look pretty bleak and miserable.
The wind was blowing a gale here as there was no protection around us. The fields were bare, freshly ploughed for next season’s crops. The gloves quickly let the water seep through and the fingers got cold pretty quickly. I put my walking pole away so that I could concentrate on keeping the fingers moving so the blood circulated properly. That helped a heap as well as keeping pace to stay warm.
The path for today followed the main road that is a link between Logroño and Burgos. Plenty of semi-trailers passing us by. Not the most scenic walk in that regard either so it was probably a good thing for the rain and weather to do its thing today and hopefully clear for our next scenic walking day.
Amazingly this church was open and we were able to pop in for a visit and look around. Many of the churches don’t look like much from the outside but once you step in the interior and ornamental artwork is just beautiful.
Wind still blowing a gale here, so open and unprotected. We were walking with about 10 other pilgrims at this point. Not altogether but spread out along the path in viewing distance.
Today we leave the province of La Rioja and enter into Castilla y León which is denoted by the signs up ahead. Not much fanfare here just a blowing gale. It’s quite a large province with some major towns to pass through. Burgos, León and Astorga just to name a few. Many days will be spent walking through this province. Hopefully with more pleasant weather.
Such a relief to have home for the night close by. Wet, cold and totally over it by this stage of the walk.
Made it to the hotel finally with all the clothes wet. Thankfully both Ron and I have some great gear to protect the packs from getting wet and the water entering and soaking all the contents. I suppose that no matter how waterproof the clothes are water will seep in eventually. Even the shoes which were sold to me as waterproof eventually succumbed and the squelch was with me for the good part of the day. Just hoping I can find a better pair of gloves in Burgos when I get there.
Tomorrow’s walk is about 30kms. It’s not forecast rain so we might as well take advantage of the fact and walk as much as we can to get ahead and get the kilometres up. We might take a day off in Burgos but we’ll see how we go.
That’s it from me today. Sorry it’s a bit bleak post. A bit like the current weather.
Thanks for reading.
For a map of today’s walk you’ll find it below.
Buen Camino! 😊
Comments
One response to “El Camino Day 13”
Sorry about the useless gloves.
When you have the right gear in cold or wet weather it’s a bit more bearable.
Hopefully you’ll get some better Spanish weather.