Camino Frances, Day 17, The Meseta

 Day 17, May 5, 6:50am, out the door on a very chilly 38° this morning. I have 3 miles to get to Sahagun, which will be the halfway point of the Camino. It rained, w/ thunder & lighting in the night, but the sky’s are clear right now, w/ the moon shining brightly. Yes, I went w/ wearing my shorts, pants only come on when it rains plus it’s not going to be this cold all day. The trail is moderately soggy but nothing that’s too bad. I have a good walk ahead of me today to get to my next destination. Only very mild elevation changes in store for today. 

Just a quick recap on the events of last night. The guy who took my poles, by mistake, he actually came back later that day and apologized. I accepted his apology, but I still had to say how could you not tell the difference between our poles, yours are like a good 2 feet higher than mine, come on dude!!! As you can tell I am over it!!

Okay, onto the pilgrim dinner last night. It was very nice. There were,  oh I would say,  20+ people at two tables. The first serving was pasta with bread and red wine. The main serving,  I don’t know what they called it, but it was a tomato based sauce with peas with meatballs in it. It was OK. That was followed up by a yogurt parfait, raspberry blueberry desert, which was very tasty. Then to top it off they brought out a little tray w/ 12 shots of something. 🤣 they were a light yellow liquid of some sort. Kind of smelled like mouthwash. I first thought, maybe it might’ve been lemon cello. Lawrence, aka donkey man said it helps with digestion🤔I don’t know. I grabbed one, held it up and said salute, and downed it. Sitting at my table, there were two Americans retired from Wisconsin. Sitting next to me on my right was Charlotte from Copenhagen, to my left, two Spanish women from Barcelona, across catty corner from me was Maria from New York, this is her sixth Camino, directly across from me was Katrina from Germany and then next to her was Lawrence a.k.a. the donkey man. I spoke to Lawrence a bit before dinner  about how he became the owner of a donkey. Short story version, the donkey is a rescue. It came from a family that was not taking care of it and he kind of intervened and said I’m either gonna call the authorities on you or you’re gonna let me buy this donkey and they chose option B so that was a nice story. He also started nine days walking before he got to St. Jean and I asked him what are you gonna do when you get there to Santiago and he really didn’t know he said he may take another trail in a different direction or he may just call his friend who has the trailer that can move the donkey. He actually lives in the mountains in France and he keeps the donkey down the lowlands at a friend’s house. This might be actually the last time I see Lawrence and his donkey for awhile. he’s taking a short day today, stopping in Sahagun, where I’m doing a longer day so we’re gonna have separation. But who knows, it’s the Camino, I’ll probably run into him again.

7:20am, just passed through the little village of San Nicolas del Real Camino. They do have a couple of albergues and a couple of restaurants which were not open yet. I am currently walking next to the road again. I think it’s gonna be like this until I get into Sahagun. 

7:41am, I am now entering the province of Leon, still in the Castillion y Leon region. Coming around a corner I can now see the city of Sahagun in the distance. 

8:23am, still 37° I just have reached the outskirts of  Sahagun. I am at 5.4 miles at 1hr 35 min into my day.

8:30am, stopped at a local bar, Irish Bar, for a quick bite to eat, coffee & I picked up 2 small ham/cheese/lettuce/tomato sandwich’s for the road. Temp is now 39°. 

Sahagun is considered the halfway point on the Camino Francis

9:50am, I just picked up my Camino Francis halfway certificate, woooohoooo!!!!!

It’s 11:10am, We’ve warmed up to a whopping 47° currently at 12.2 miles, 4 hrs 22  min. into my day currently walking with a very nice lady from New York. Her name is Maria. This is her fifth Camino and she’s been giving me a lot of good tips which is always nice to have right now. We’re just actually walking on an asphalt road, that’s right next to the trail, but there’s no traffic on this road so we just thought we’d walk up here, plus the trail is still muddy in some spots. Been following along the freeway for a while now and just saw the Renfe high speed train wiz on by. It’s partly cloudy right now, sun is trying to peak out between the clouds. The trail is lined with Platanus trees, they look similar to a Maple Tree. Are you not impressed about my knowledge of trees. Okay okay, I took a picture of the tree and it told me what kind of tree it was. Approaching the village of Bercinos del Real Camino.

11:44am, entering the town of Bercinos del Real Camino. This is where I say by to Maria from NY

12 o’clock noon still only 49°. Still have my windbreaker on got a walking against a good little headwind. I just passed the 331km= 205miles, to go marker. Currently at 15 miles , 5hrs 17 min. Still walking next to road. I kind of been sticking to walking on the little asphalt road, next to the trail. Hardly any cars use this road. Actually seen more tractors on this road than cars.This has definitely been walking next to a road type day. doing a lot of road walking right next to the trail of the trail is a little muddy, so I just kind of been sticking to the road right next to the trail. The  road is not busy at all, only a couple of cars even passed me on it. I have seen more 🚜’s on it than cars. Just tells you what type of community I am walking through. Quick stop to eat my banana, and off load my pack a bit and look at my map, I have about 5 more miles to go. There is a good size group of pilgrims walking in front of me. I then notice they are all stopped and getting on a big tour bus. I have heard of tour groups that just walk little sections of the Camino and they have a tour guide pointing out different things on the Camino Trail. Then they get back on the bus & go to the next little section to walk. Like I said,  everybody’s Camino is different.

1:12pm, 51° entering the town of El Burgo Ranero. Stopped at a little market, they had some tables outside. Grabbed me a Coke Zero & a bag of chips to go w/ my sandwiches I bought back in Sahagun. While I was eating my lunch, I pull out my Camino Map. I am at the 19 mile mark. The next town is still 2+ hrs away, plus there is rain forecasted for later this afternoon. My feet are getting tired, so I have made the decision to stop here for the night. This town has many sleeping options, I went with Albergue La Laguna €18, single bed, not bunk bed. So far not many pilgrims are here. I ran back to that little market, bought a couple of snicker bars, great snack for the trail, then I stopped at a pizza place, went in had a quick beer and made 6:30 reservations there for the pilgrim dinner tonight. 

7:40pm, had a very nice pilgrim dinner @ Buona Pizza. It wasn’t pizza, but a 3 course meal. Mixed Salad, Beef Steak w/ fries, & Tiramisu. Also included bread, water & a bottle of red wine. Followed that up w/ a cafe con Leche. I am stuffed!!!! All that for €18

Tomorrow, is what I call a fence day. Meaning I am on the fence leaning towards going all the way to Leon or not. It would be about 23 mile walk. I am currently a full day ahead of my original schedule. I was scheduled to be in this area tomorrow, but I am here today. I feel like I don’t walk that fast, but the miles are just clicking off. I definitely have my trail legs. Leon is my next and last rest day stop on my Camino. Decisions Decisions Decisions!!!

Today was a good walking day. Got my 1/2 completed certificate, put in some good miles. Down side, why the heck did it turn so cold today,  dang I could have used those gloves & beanie today. 

STATS- Moratinos to El Burgo Ranero, Stage 17

Miles-19.2

Duration- 6hrs 28min

Elevation- 469ft

Temp- 37-50, it was a bit chilly in the morning

Song- Cold As Ice  Foreigner

Tomorrow’s temp should be a little warmer starting out the day, around 40-41. Still cold but better. Tomorrow’s route also looks to be fairly flat w/ very moderate elevation changes. 

So as always, Thanks for ready my little adventure.