Day 14 – Villafrana Montes de Oca to Burgos

May 20th – Today will be a long hike to Burgos but I am up for the task.  The first couple of miles are steep and rocky – good to get the heart pumping and blood running through my veins.  It is chilly but crystal clear.

Today’s walk begins on a tree lined path and I hear the cuckoos singing for the first time again in several days.

I come upon a section where someone has spelled out Buen Camino in rocks and the three pilgrims behind me also stop.  One sees me taking a photo and offers to take one of me.

While I’m stopped is a good time to peel off my jacket – look at that clear blue sky!  It’s warming up considerably.

I am expecting that the high point we are climbing to will be a viewpoint but instead it is an unusual surprise of totem poles and artistry marking the 1100 ft spot.

I pass through many sweet villages today:  first San Juan de Ortega where I stop at the little cafe for a cafe con leche, put my feet up and gaze at the cathedral while relaxing for awhile. Before heading out again I zip off the lower part of my pants – I’m now wearing shorts.

Next I arrive in a sweet village called Ages then continue on to Atapuerca where there are prehistoric caves that hold the earliest human remains ever discovered in Europe.  The path turns quite rocky and goes uphill.  As I leave I wonder if this is what all the land that our long ago ancestors walked upon everywhere as normal.

At the high point I can see Burgos which I think is another 10 miles away.

Coming down the other side of the hill I see a large flock of sheep being herded across the road by a man and his dog.  I drink in the scene and the beauty.

It’s  been several hours in the now hot sun and I’m feeling the effects of not having applied suntan lotion before leaving today.  At Cardenuela Riopico I stop for lunch that includes a fresh squeezed glass of orange juice.  I have an animated and fun exchange with four Spanish pilgrims who speak no English and I speak no Spanish.  Looking through guide books we are looking for the best approach into Burgos when one of them, a man, opens up a schetchbook and begins to draw the approach via the Rio Arianzon rather than the suburbs and then tears it from the book with a flare and hands it to me.  It is one of those special Camino moments I will remember forever and I plan to frame the drawing when I return home.

I inadvertently stopped my tracking system at this stop rather than pause so I believe it was another 6 miles before I reached Burgos.  Time for a shower, body cream on my sun burn and walk to the Cathedral which is across the street from where I am staying.