Pilgrims on the Way

This is a sight which will soon become not only familiar but positively tedious in its consistency. When we crossed the Meseta – a place known for having a relatively dry climate – the area was enduring hundred-year rains. We ran into a lot of mud. Now the thing about mud is, it really slows you down, what with the […]

There are many memorials on the Camino to fallen pilgrims. This one is on the downslope of the Alto de Mostalares. Perhaps he was run over by a bicycle. Perhaps he stumbled and injured himself on the steep slope. Perhaps he was simply in bad health. If your Spanish is good, perhaps you can provide a translation. Date: 15 April […]

This is a heck of a view in better weather. What’s not so great is the concrete path down. It’s pretty steep, and in damp conditions seems particularly treacherous. The bikes just fly down, and everybody else takes tiny, tiny steps as slowly as they can. It’s no fun. Date: 15 April 2016 Place: Colina de Mostalares (Castilla y León, […]

As you can see, Francine is not thrilled with the upcoming walk down the Alto de Mostalares. Me neither. Date: 15 April 2016 Place: Colina de Mostalares (Castilla y León, Spain) Today’s Map:

Well, actually the edge of the Alto de Mostalares, complete with the sign warning of an 18-degree downslope. We’re still up in the clouds, here, so you can only see the barest hint of the world beyond. Unlike the climb up or the road across, the climb down is paved in concrete. This makes it especially popular with bicycles, as […]

Once you make it to the top of the Alto de Mostalares, there’s a lovely sheltered area where you can rest. I remember on my first Camino it was really warm the day I made this climb, and I spent a long, long time rehydrating here. Having made the climb on a cool, cloudy day was much easier. After perhaps […]

We climbed the Alto de Mostalares with a passel of Evergreen students that we had been walking with on and off for several days: Brian, Tracy, Cooper, and Michelle. Brian and I climbed much of this side by side, discussing poetry and philosophy, both of which seemed to be demanded by the terrain and view. We were trying, I think, […]

This was taken from about halfway up the Colina de Mostalares. Click through to see the full size. That little red dot on the right is Francine. The hill just left of center is Castrojeriz. Needless to say, the photograph doesn’t do the remotest justice to the scene. Date: 15 April 2016 Place: Colina de Mostalares (Castilla y León, Spain) […]

As I mentioned yesterday, the Meseta sometimes has these wrinkles, sudden steep ridges that run for sometimes dozens of kilometers. Well, this is the bottom of one of them, the Colina de Mostalares. It’s a twelve-degree climb up, and then an eighteen-degree climb down. Here’s Francine laughing at the absurdity of it all. Date: 15 April 2016 Place: Colina de […]

Some obvious takeaways from this photo: it’s raining and there’s a heck of a ridge there ahead of us. Now, mostly the Meseta is flat as Nebraska, but it does have these wrinkles, sudden steep ridges that run for sometimes dozens of kilometers. They’re too long to go around, or there’s private property or dangerous terrain blocking the flat bits, […]