1st Day on the road

After an overnight train ride we arrived at the start of el Camino in Santiago at 7AM. Somewhat adrift and groggy we wandered around and saw the beautiful town and huge Cathedral that all of the pilgrims that we were about to see were traveling by foot to see. It was a cool and over cast day and after Hannah scored a fantastic guide book complete with maps, we set off. Since this was the end of the el Camino pilgrimage we encountered a steady stream of walkers and bicyclists as we embarked. With the late start, by 1PM when we stopped for lunch we were only 15 miles in. The sun broke through and we picked up the pace until at about 3 we were at the base of a moderate climb over a pass to the last valley before the coast. 

Hannah was the navigator and I followed. After a 10 mile wrong way start we restarted the climb and all went well. When we reached the summit we thought we had an easy decent to dinner and a bed and hot shower. But a missed turn, a wrong way decent and horrible road construction had us at 8 PM climbing back up the pass on a gravel road by foot. Spirits were very low and I was sure this would be the last ride I would ever take with my daughter. We were desperately hungry, out of gas and in a remote land of cows and pasture and not a soul around. After flagging down a car for directions we were escorted to a farm on the Camino trail where the farmer's nicest wife Elena, cooked a dinner of eggs with cheese, bread, sausage, olives and wine, all produced on their farm. After dinner we made the final 15 miles of the decent to the el Camino alberge\hostel lodging. Fortunately it was still light until 10 PM and we arrived as the sun was just going down.

Check out the windmills in the background up on the ridge.

After a 72 mile day we went to bed very tired but still enthusiastic for the next days ride.