Day 3: A Chatty Day

Another gorgeous day walking. Rained during night but was perfect walking weather.  I walked alongside a huge hill today, full of Flintstone-type boulders, much like Joshua Tree National Park (well, 'twas much greener!) That's the pic above, I'll find an Internet cafe in Segovia to add other photos to this and previous posts from my camera). 

Saw my first pilgrim this morning; passed by right out of Manzanares. He must be newbie, no "Buen Camino", "Hola", or anything. Noticed he's only carrying a 42L pack! Geez, my sleeping bag, fleece & peanut butter would fill 2/3rd's of that!! My pack might be large but I'm happy to have everything in it. I paused to jot a few notes and he disappeared. Saw him on the horizon for most of the morning so he wasn't walking very fast but with my dawdling, there was no way I'd catch him.

A nice old farmer stopped to say hello. "650 kms to Santiago" (I think) he said, "bit by bit" I replied, he smiled and wished me a buen voyage.

Another hiker passed me, told me he had done 3 caminos and was wearing a Camino shirt to prove it. I told him my route, "Ah, via Fuenfria" (mountain to climb tomorrow) he said, just in the same way as the bikers had on Saturday - do I detect a note of dread? But today he was just out for a walk...

A biker stopped as he had noticed the Canadian flag sewn on my backpack. Turned out he went to university in Lethbridge, Alberta. Has done Camino 3x as well, twice by bike.

peanut butter to the rescue!

I was flagging a bit at noon so I stopped for a PB&cracker snack on a lovely rock in a field of boulders & flowering bushes. All kinds of locals out for a walk waved hello to me and asked if I was doing the Camino de Santiago. It´s really is quite well known here. Turns out it's a holiday today = tons of bikers & hikers.

The last 2 kms before descending into Cercedilla was on the asphalt, a nasty surprise after hoofing it up out of Navacerrada. And, the rain started the last kilometer so even the sandy road didn't make me feel better :-(My hotel was at the far end of town so I stopped for a restorative beer, and a 3-course lunch/supper :-) The sun was out when finished, which was a nice sign, so I wandered over to the police station for my first sello since Madrid (holiday weekend, other places closed). I didn't have to say a word, as soon as the cop saw me he reached into his drawer for his stamp!

this is how I felt on arrival

After checking into my hotel I wandered this end of town a bit and heard some music playing so I wandered into the tiniest bar ever. I was very proud of myself as many bars in Spain have that "men only" &/or "locals only" look to them (this was both), but the band was singing bluegrass hillbilly songs in english. Half the floor was taken up by the trio, so all the patrons were pressed up against the bar. I squeezed onto a barstool and spent an enjoyable 40 mins listening to them. Turns out they were from Ireland, UK, & USA!

I had a brilliant idea re: the 32km hike over the worrisome Fuenfria to Segovia. Instead of doing it tomorrow with my full pack & peanut butter, I'm going to take the train to Segovia instead. I'll get a hotel, have my sightseeing day, leave the contents of my pack x-food & water, then take the train back first thing the next morning and walk the mountain with a pack as light-as-a-feather! Also, I won´t worry about having to find a hotel at 4pm after a tiring day.  I planned to spend 2 nights there anyway...

Pilgrim Notes: Saw another pilgrim fountain today, about 4km past Manazanares but to my mind it looks more like a bathing trough... Is also a nice picnic area just past, at Ermita de San Isidro. Had a lovely mountain backdrop, proper drinking fountain.

fountain or bath?

Much of the marking looked so new I actually touched one arrow to see if it was still wet paint! But they let me down just before Navacerrada. I was given a choice of wading thru a pond (to "puebla") or continuing on the highway; the arrows pointed both ways. I chose dry feet, therefore the road, and the arrows promptly stopped. So, to get back to the camino if you make the same choice: walk highway, go left at rotary, right on Calle del Sotillo, left on Calle de la Iglesia. Walk down past the church, to Calle Abel on right, then follow arrows & guide.

Oh, met one last pilgrim, just out for a weekend walk. He stayed at the Refugio in Manzanares and said it was very good, had a kitchen.

Tip: I had printed off little maps of the route thru the first 4 towns so i could find my hostals. Printed double-sided, two maps per page, so little weight.