Homer's Travels: Camino De Santiago - Burgos To Hontanas

Thursday, September 08, 2011

Camino De Santiago - Burgos To Hontanas

I woke up and checked out of the hotel. It felt good to be back on the Camino. The swelling in my right ankle had gone down considerably the day before and didn't hurt much. The ankle was a little stiff (It's a little stiff as I write this post) but it was much better. The big toe on my right foot was also much better - the soaking in hot soapy water had done it good. I'd been worried about losing my walking edge while I sat in my hotel room but it turns out I walked better without the pain.

I reached Hornillos del Camino, the most logical stopping point of the day, at 10:15 AM and decided that I would stick to my catch up plan and continue on to the next town with an albergue, Hontanas. It was too early to stop anyway.  Continuing would push it as I'd already walked 12.47 miles (20 km) and Hontanas was another 6.59 miles (10.6 km) but my feet felt pretty good so I bought an ice cream bar and continued down the Camino.

While this was the official start of the Meseta it was hardly flat. There was enough up and down to wear down your leg muscles. Along the way I passed the albergue of San-Bol. The albergue is out in the middle of nowhere - one of the few that are not located in a town.

This stretch of the Camino felt like it took forever. On the plus side the sky was overcast so the heat that was infamous on the Meseta was not too bad. I kept looking ahead hoping to see Hontanas. My GPS said it was getting closer but I couldn't see it. Finally, when the GPS said it was a quarter mile away I topped a hill and down below was the village of Hontanas. One of the most beautiful sights. I stumbled into town and checked into the albergue. I was one of the last pilgrims to have hot water in the showers.

I relaxed in my bunk for most of the afternoon and evening. I didn't feel like walking around much. There wasn't any functioning Internet in this town so the sense of isolation was palpable. A nice couple from England introduced themselves. We chatted a while. It was another one shot meeting - never saw them again.

Once 5:00 PM came around I crossed the street to the store and bought food for the walk tomorrow and something to make dinner with. Nothing much really - a baguette, some ham, and fruit. While I was in the store the sky opened up and poured for about ten minutes which was how long the line was in the store. There was even some BB sized hail. I went back to the albergue and made my sandwich and ate my dinner in an empty dining room. This would become a bad habit on the Meseta for me. I ate little but small sandwiches and fruit ... and Principe cookies.

I'd developed some more sore spots during this day. My hips hurt where my backpack belt rested - a clear indication that I was loosing fat and my body had less padding (not that I had a lot to begin with). The blister on my left foot had also grown in size. I drained it but I didn't leave a thread in it. Some people treat blisters by threading a needle and passing the needle and thread through the blister leaving the thread in the blister. The thread acts like a wick keeping the blister from re-inflating. I never could do that.

Day sixteen turned out to be my longest leg yet. So far the plan was proceeding ... as planned. Tomorrow would be another long stage.

Total Distance: 19.15 Miles (30.82 km)
Total Time: 6 hours 15 minutes
Total Elevation Up: 1,935 ft (589.79 m)
Total Elevation Down: 2,007 ft (611.73 m)

[Click on map for a larger version]

3 comments:

  1. Ahh...now I know where we both were...I was just ahead in San Anton at this point. That was the storm that blew up and hammered so many people..Including the one guy whose pic I posted in my blog. Glad you were safe and dry too!

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  2. threading a blister sounds GROSS!

    Glad you were feelign better at this point. I honestly don't notice that you ate so many sandwiches, but I have noticed you ate ice cream. Only because my face lights up and I think "oooh ice cream!"

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  3. KSam: I think I was still in Burgos when you were in San Anton. It rained in Burgos at around 4:00 PM, about the same time it rained in Hontanas. You were two days ahead of me.

    Miss McC: I ate a whole herd of pigs worth. I also ate a boat load of ice cream.

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