6 -15°C —Blue sky, cloudy later in the day
By Jim
We were up early and on the trail before Juan Jose ( a Spanish cyclist) and Mariam and Gert (a Dutch couple) had even stirred. While getting our bearings on the edge of town, Kenny (Reno, Nevada) and Charles (Montpelier, France) emerged from the municipal albergue and joined us. We walked together for a while until Laurel and I fell behind to photograph the crops and flowers.
Today’s scenery had a lot in common with parts of Saskatchewan and you would be forgiven if you mistook our pictures for Glenside or Wilkie. The path left town with healthy fields of wheat, barley, canola, and oats rotating along the way.
Eventually we drew up alongside a major highway and followed it (at a pleasant distance) most of the day, but the other side of the trail was dedicated to farming. Juan Jose rode past and wished us a Buen Camino and we were eventually overtaken by Jurgen, a Belgian pilgrim who we had met in Salamanca. The Guardia Civil (Spanish Police) drove up behind us and stopped to check if everything was OK. Near the midpoint of our walk El Real de la Jara prison came into view and dominated our vista for many kilometers. On occasion, we remembered to turn around to look and were reminded of the snow capped Sierra de Béjar rising up beyond Salamanca.
We arrived at the Albergue and waited in the garden for it open, soon joined by Kenny who had been checking out the town. (Charles had decided to walked 13 km further to the next town.) For lunch we dined on lentil stew, steak, and cheesecake at Casa Ivan.
Love the scenery! I could walk this portion on a good day;)
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