Camino 2013 - Day 14: Navarrete To Azofra

I don't have much to write about this stage.  It was a tough day but not nearly as bad as the day before.  We walked to Ventosa where we stopped for breakfast.  On the way we met an older couple.  The man was wearing a t-shirt that said "I am not her husband."  (Later on the Camino I would see her wearing a t-shirt that said "I am not his wife.")  They were brother and sister.  Nice people.  I would see them again farther down the way.

A pilgrim sculpture in Navarrete.

Leaving Ventosa the Camino tops a hill.  As we approached the hill we passed a pilgrim with a donkey.  This is the first and only donkey pilgrim I've ever seen though I've heard that they exist.  As a matter of fact I read about one in "Spanish Steps: One Man and His Ass on the Pilgrim Way to Santiago" which I posted about here.

The rest of the stage was an uneventful walk to our destination of Azofra.  This stage and destination were repeats from my last Camino.  The albergue quarters in Azofra are comfortable (no bunk beds) double rooms.  The weather was not as good as last time when it felt like a resort but it was nice enough.

I was pretty wiped when I got to Azofra.  It would be a few days until I fully recovered from my near death experience on the way to Navarrete.  A nap in the afternoon helped me revive.

New markers outside Najera.  The distances are still not accurate.

The padding we put on the heel blister was apparently not enough.  It had gotten bigger and uglier during today's walk.  It was obvious we needed to use better padding and better tape to keep the padding in place.  It would take several trials and errors until we finally settled on a good combination that worked.

During this stage we met an Australian who had a plastic battleax sticking out of his pack - a souvenir from a festival no doubt.  He seemed like a funny guy until we found out that he told the hospitalero that his friend was right behind him so that he could get a double room to himself.  While he paid for both beds, hogging two beds when they have been a bit scarce was not cool.  Fortunately the albergue never filled up.  Still my image of him soured a bit after he told us about what he had done and laughed.

Later that evening G_v and I looked at our itinerary and juggled a few stops to even out the distances we walked each day while sticking to our long range itinerary.  This would eliminate some longer days and make it easier on me.  I was definitely having issues with energy levels.  Not sure if I was doing something differently from last time or if I was just feeling the two extra years on my body.  My training had helped on the Aragones but it wasn't doing sh*t on the Frances.  Well, not exactly sh*t.  It appeared to be helping my recovery each evening and nearly eliminated the often comical pilgrim walk (a slightly bow legged shuffle on soar feet and stiff legs).

I took very few pictures this stage and the pictures above are all I had to add.  Pictures can be found in my 2013 Camino de Santiago Google Photos album.

Total Distance on Day 14: 23 km ( 14.29 Miles) Total Distance Walked: 317 km (196.98 Miles)

Approximate Track of the day's hike.

[Click on map for a larger version]