Camino Frances, Day 19, The Meseta

 Day 19, May 8th, 7am. I am out the door. It’s currently 46°. We are supposed to have some rain today so I already have my rain pack over my backpack and wearing my rain jacket. My poncho is strapped to the top of my pack currently, if needed. Walking out of the city of Leon with what looks to be mostly cloudy conditions. I have about a 18+mile walk in front of me today so let’s do this, & here we go!!!!

7:58am, quick stop at a local coffee shop to grab my morning cafe con leche.

9:00am, 49°, 5.2 miles, 1hr 57 min. I have now reached the urban outskirts of Leon and have reached my turn off to the alternative route that I am taking today. This route is supposed to be more scenic versus the normal Camino route where you just follow the road. This alternative route will eventually connect back to the regular Camino at some point tomorrow. It sure seems to be a more popular route because I’m seeing more pilgrims walking this way than continuing straight on the regular route, I shedded my rain jacket, kiss of death, for the time being because I was starting to getting hot. 

I had a real nice rest day in Lyon yesterday. Actually didn’t do a whole lot besides a couple of small chores and visited a couple of the major sites in the old city. It was so nice to hook up with some of my Pellegrino‘s that I’ve met, up to this point, on the trail. Even saw Michael, who I started out on day 1with. I haven’t seen him since day 2 actually. It was nice to see everybody and get caught up. We all have that one goal in common, to reach Santiago de Campostela. Leon was my last official rest day, but now that I am actually two days ahead of schedule I definitely could take another day off sometime between now and Santiago. Ponferrada, the last big city I come to it and that is still 3- 4 days away. I believe after that, it would be Saria. 

Saria is a major starting point for the short version of the Camino. To qualify for a Compostela, one needs to walk at least 100km and the distance from Saria to Santiago is just a tick over 100km. It is a know fact, the crowds will triple and even quadruple from Saria to Santiago. It’s like the 5frwy in LA at Rush hr😡. I have read that pilgrims who started in St Jean, like me, its aggravating because we’re used to a few pilgrims out on the trail, but then all of a sudden you’re in a swarm pilgrims. So we’ll have to see if that actually pans out. Just to put it into perspective. So far this yr, of all the Compostela’s that have been issued, nearly 40% are coming from Saria, whereas only 6% are coming from St Jean. Huge difference for sure.  

9:15am entering Fresno Del Camino, yeah not much to say.

9:22am, well it is starting to rain☔️  So I stopped with a bunch of other pilgrims, in a park under a big tree, to put on my poncho, not going with the rain jacket at this time, just a poncho. The weather forecast calls for heavier rain today. If I put both on, I know, I would just get too hot. 

09:36, entering Oncina de la Valdoncina, yeah, even less to see.

Just a little after 10am, it is still lightly raining. Been  walking on this dirt road that’s now starting to turn a little muddy, zig zag time. I noticed for the first time, walking through the Meseta, that there are currently no fields of any type of farming on either sides of me.  It is just kind of scrub grass with short tree’s and a few flowers 🤔. I. just passed the mile marker 300km, roughly187 miles to go, woo hoo. 

11am, 11 miles, 3hrs 50 min. Currently @ Chozas de Abajo,. Stopped @ a little cafe to get out of the rain for a bit, also enjoyed a cafe con Leche, banana & a small piece of Spanish Tortilla. Checked my Camino map booklet to gage how far I think I may want to walk, and the weather app as well. 

11:35am, I am got about a mile past Chozas de Abajo, when the skies just opened up. It was coming down in buckets, and there is no place to hide so I just dealt w/ it and marched on. The good thing, the heavy rain only lasted about ten min. But it continued to rain off an on for the next 30-40 min straight. But I stayed dry!!!!

So I’m in between rain showers so I would thought I would talk a little bit about my two pieces of rain gear that I have with me, 1st, my lightweight rain jacket/windbreaker, Northern Face brand. It is an excellent jacket. I have used it basically every morning. It’s good for light rain or sprinkles. The nice thing I can stuff it into the chest pocket compartment, on the jacket, for saving space. The second piece of equipment I have is my Altus poncho. We bought these last yr for our Portugal Camino. I love this thing. It goes below the knee to keep my upper legs dry. It’s heavier than a lot of other poncho’s, so when the wind blows it doesn’t blow up from the back and stays in place. It has had chest ventilation slots to allow the air to circulate. Has elastic cuffed wrist for a tight seal. Has a front zipper w/ velcro to keep a water tight environment. Also has two drawstrings around the face area, to tighten up to help keep water off your face. It is just a super good poncho and the most important thing, It keeps me dry. 

12 noon, entering Vallar de Mazarife. This is actually my original place I was going to stay for the night. Since I got here so early the Albergue‘s here don’t open up till 2pm, for check-in. I didn't won’t to sit around this town for two more hours, with nothing open or to do. So made the decision to keep on truckin down the road. The local bread truck is driving up & down the streets, honking there horn. People are coming out the greet the driver, to buy bread. Reminds me of when the ice cream truck would be come up and down our street playing that unforgettable tune.

12:30pm, about 15 miles down,  my watch says temp. is 49° w/, light drizzle. Been walking on this straight as an arrow road ever since I left Chozas de Abajo, where I stopped at that café for a break. I’ve have been  experiencing intermittent rain showers, but they don’t last long. Currently walking past newly planted fields and they’re just starting to sprout, but I don’t know what type plants they are. I haven’t really talked to anybody today because everybody’s got their rain gear on over their heads, making it difficult to interact w/ people.

1pm 17.4 miles, 6hrs 5min. It’s still 49°, actually the rain has stopped for a bit so I opened up my poncho to let some fresh air in, but not dare take it off, kiss of death,. I’ve got another 40 minutes or so to where I’m going to be staying for the night. Those fields that I said, I didn’t know what they were growing. Turns out they are new planted cornfields. I found evidence of old corn cob’son the side of the fields. I finally have come to the end of this small two lane road that I have been walking on for the past couple of hours. The Camino trail is actually right next to the road but it is currently under water 🤣. Now I am back walking on a dirt road and doing the zig zag dance around the mud puddles.

1:48am, arrived & checked into Albergue Santa Lucia. Signed up for the pilgrim dinner & breakfast tomorrow for €28. I am in a room with 14 total bunk beds, that equals 28 beds. First order of business, unpack my backpack, hung up my poncho, which was mostly dry, hit the shower, before all the hot water is taken. Then headed down for a beverage and a hamburger. So far there are only 3 pilgrims in the room. Looks like I arrived just in time because the sky’s have  just opened up again, and this time w/ big booming thunder. 

Sitting here watching all the soaking wet pilgrims come sloshing in, is kind of hilarious to see. But guess who came in? That’s right Lawrence, aka donkey man. We just keep bumping into each other, it’s so crazy. I actually bought him a beer. Another pilgrim, Bill from Scotland, we also keep bumping into each other from time to time, I love his accent. When I left to go down stairs to grab a drink and a bite to eat, there were just three pilgrims in the area I am sleeping in, now the place is almost filled. Nobody is above me yet🤞🏻. The one thing I have learned when staying in rooms like this. I take my bath towel and clip it to the upper bed frame w/ the closepins I brought. Makes a perfect curtain. Gives me a little privacy. 

Just returned from our pilgrim dinner. There were 14 of us. 1st course- Garbonzo bean soup🤢, but I ate it. Main course- Chix & salad, Desert- custard. Plus, bread, red wine & water, €15. 

Who’s read for some stats?, I can’t her you, I SAID WHO IS READY FOR SOME STATS?, that’s much better!!!!!

Miles- 20.1, that’s right, back to back 20’s!!!

Duration- 6hrs 23min

Elevation- 574ft

Weather- 49-52 degrees, cloudy & rainy☔️☔️☔️☔️

Song- going back to the early 80’s with this one. Back in my KROQ Days. My favorite New Wave band Oingo Biongo, “Who Do You Want To Be”

Tomorrow is a relative short day, just around 12 miles. Going to Astorga. There are a couple of things I want to see. 1st being the Palace of Gaudi Museum, 2nd being the Cathedral of Santa Marie de Astorga.

And yes more rain is scheduled for tomorrow😡

As always, thanks for reading. Buen Camino✌🏻