CAMINO DE SANTIAGO - WEEK FIVE
Sunday, 25 MAY 2025
The college kids were from Utah and apparently Spanish majors, or at least in the Spanish club back at school. They did not miss a chance to speak to the locals. They all had their Pilgrim Passports out because there was a local guy there who was stamping passports for a donation. His stamp was a melted wax stamp in the shape of a shell like the symbol for the Camino. He let you pick the color of the wax that you liked and then melted a small puddle in the passport. He then put the seal with the shell in the wax and let it harden. When it was hard, he signed and dated it. It was pretty cool, I must say. 
This is the new sign that tells you that you are entering the Province of Leon.
Pilgrims don't walk on this old bridge anymore. It is only car and truck traffic now. The town or province built a pedestrian bridge several years ago because this old bridge was considered one of the most dangerous spots on the Camino for Pilgrims. The old bridge has twenty sections and a curve in the middle. A driver on the bridge cannot see from one end to the other. I can see how Pilgrims could get themselves into a fix if they were not paying attention. I went across the pedestrian bridge, took my picture, ate my breakfast and struck out again for Leon.
This is the museum of Leon:
To be totally transparent, part of that building is also a hotel. I guess it helps pay the museum's light bill.
Out of the other side of Hospital De Orbigo and I had to climb up to just under 3,000 feet in altitude. At this point the Camino was literally winding through the woods. There were pine trees everywhere. Just an FYI it is pine pollen season in this part of Spain. These pines have yellow pollen too! The trees, however are different. They are more like a bush. The needles are a little longer than a Virginia pine, but the trees are only about 16 to 20 feet tall. I don't think they would make good lumber either because the trunks are short and not straight.
It is 08:00 on Sunday morning and I am already three miles into my day. I have just stopped in a small restaurant in Carrion and I am having toast with jam, coffee, and orange juice. I am kind of loading up on the carbs because today is just walking through endless miles of flatland. In the vernacular of more of my kin, "All that land is used for is to hold the world together."
My goal for today is to complete 16 miles. In between the start and the stop are wheat fields, hay fields, snow pea fields, and lots of rocks. If you did not notice, I said nothing of water. That is because there is no water in the entire sixteen miles. There was not even a creek.
When I finished eating, I stepped outside and started through the center of Carrion. It is a nice little town with lots of churches and monasteries. I think there even might have been a castle, but I am not sure. If it was not a castle, it was in some way part of the government because it was old and huge. Looking at it, you could see that it was built to say, "Carrion has the money!" I crossed a river and was out of town and into the fields. It was about 09:00 and still cool. You could actually see your breath. I can see why wheat is grown here. The plentiful water from irrigation and and a dry climate make an almost ideal growing environment.
That dry air heated up quickly when the sun got above the trees. By ten it was probably 75 or 78 degrees and no breeze.
I stopped about ten thirty to treat a hot spot on my left foot. If you have been following along, my left foot and leg are the ones that have had all the bracing over the last weeks. Today was the first day that I went with no bracing or extra support in three weeks. If you are interested, I had no trouble from either one today for the entire 16 mile trek. I did, however, have a blister come up where the ankle brace encircled my heel. I guess the brace cushioned my heel over the last few weeks and the skin got soft. Either that or my ankle was just not used to being ignored.
While I was sitting there with my tape and scissors out, two ladies asked if I was OK. I said I was, and I was just fixing a blister. I think this was an example of the spirit of the Camino. People are genuinely interested in your wellbeing but will also leave you to your own devices if that is what you want. About two hours later, it happened again as I was sitting in the shade of what vaguely resembled a poplar tree. I was having a Coke that I had brought along with some Oreos. I have found that when you know you are about 30 to 45 minutes from the end of your hiking day, you can load up on carbs and water and you will perform like a champ until the end. The trick is to time it so you run out of steam when you run out of hiking. If you miss, you will crash hard when your blood sugar goes back down. PRO TIP: Save some of your snack just to make sure you don't fall on your face.
It is now 12:30 p.m. and I am sitting in my Albergue cooling off. I don't mind telling you I also stink. As soon as I get a shower, I plan to wash my clothes. I also hope there is a kitchen open during Siesta. I am at mile 239.8 through today.
MONDAY, 26 MAY 2025
It is Memorial Day at home today. Like a lot of the other holidays, many people just like to have a day off and do not really think about the reason for the holiday. It is my opinion that Memorial Day and Veterans' Day in November deserve more respect than they get. These two days honor the American citizens who stood up and answered when their Nation called for help. In the case of Memorial Day, these Citizens paid the ultimate price for the freedoms that we enjoy today.
I left Calzadilla this morning at 05:55. I wanted to be way down the Camino by the time the sun got up high enough to be hot. By 08:30 I had completed four miles of my planned 13 mile day. It was to be a little shorter than yesterday, but that was ok because I was still tired from the OVEN walking everyone was doing Sunday.
I stopped in Ledigos for my standard breakfast. I pretty much have coffee, and a Neopolitan (croissant with chocolate inside), and orange juice. It is always good and it fills me up. When I went into the place I noticed there was a piece of what looked like bullet proof glass made into the floor. It was a cover for another well! If you have been following along for the whole Camino walk, there was another well in the first albergue in which I stayed on something like the third day. I had my headlamp handy and I looked in. It still had water. I would say that it is about fifteen feet deep and was hand dug a long time ago.
When I had eaten, I left and started walking west again. Today's walk started with a different perspective than yesterday. Today, the Pilgrims get to walk on the LEFT side of the highway. Yesterday, it was all right-hand walking. It was also much cooler this morning and we had a breeze. All was right with the world.
Well, nearly all was right. I had just gotten started again and was making pretty good time when out of the blue, my ankle locked. That is the best way to describe it. I was taking a step with my left foot outstretched, and when I put my foot on the ground to complete the step, everything tightened up. It hurt, I hobbled, I yelled both from surprise and pain. Immediately I thought I would be out of commission again. Fortunately when I stood on it again, it did not hurt and I could move it a little. I decided to put my brace back on it just for safety's sake. I could wiggle it and walk on it pretty well after about five minutes. I started but again at a greatly reduced speed and it did pretty well. I guess maybe it was a little tender after yesterday and I just needed to be a bit more gentle.
As I made my way further west, I came upon a small albergue in a tiny village. It had an outside eating area and there were a bunch of college kids lined up with their Pilgrim passports in hand. A Pilgrim passport is your proof that you have completed the portions or all of the Camino. It is a booklet that contains space for stamps that are available at basically every business along the Camino. A Pilgrim has to get at least one stamp in every place he visits or stays. Think of it like when you go somewhere that requires a passport and yours gets stamped when you enter or exit a country. This is just like that. Each stamp is unique. When you get a stamp, it is dated so that the person who checks at the end can see that you have been walking like you claim. Here is a picture of some of my stamps:
The college kids were from Utah and apparently Spanish majors, or at least in the Spanish club back at school. They did not miss a chance to speak to the locals. They all had their Pilgrim Passports out because there was a local guy there who was stamping passports for a donation. His stamp was a melted wax stamp in the shape of a shell like the symbol for the Camino. He let you pick the color of the wax that you liked and then melted a small puddle in the passport. He then put the seal with the shell in the wax and let it harden. When it was hard, he signed and dated it. It was pretty cool, I must say. Back out on the old Camino headed west, shortly I came upon a sign that had been around a long time. If you read last week's blog you remember me telling you about me crossing what I thought was a state line. It was all explained to me this morning. These areas are not states. These areas are provinces! What a load off my mind!
Basically, that old sign says...
This is the new sign that tells you that you are entering the Province of Leon.Just inside Leon is the town of Sahagun. It is a pretty good size town. Agribusiness seems to be a big contributor to the local tax base. As I was walking into town, all the farms and co-ops were getting their combines ready for the upcoming wheat harvest. Also, as I walked through town to my hotel it noticed that the Public Works people were putting up portable fencing in the old part of town. I wonder if they run bulls here like they do in Pamplona. I am going to have to ask somebody.
I did ask, and yes, bulls are being run through town next week!
It is three p.m. and I am dead in the middle of the Siesta. I ate lunch before everything closed at two. I also went by the pharmacy and got myself some magnesium oil. I went in asking for Epsom salts to use on my leg. He did not have any, but he did have magnesium sulfate (epsom salts) dissolved in a spray that you spray on and then rub in. I am going to try it when I take my shower. I ended today at mile 253.3. That is over halfway fininished with the Camino. The guy that checked me in at the hotel said that I could go to the Camino office in town and they would give me a certificate saying I had made it half way. I am holding out for the whole thing sir, thank you just the same.
TUESDAY, MAY 27 2025
It is Tuesday morning at exactly eleven a.m. I am sitting in the restaurant of the Hostal where I will be staying tonight in Bercianos. I have walked 6.3 miles to get here this morning. The reason I am taking a nero today is so that I can be set to walk a long section tomorrow on fresh legs. Unlike most of the sections, there is no place to stop and eat or stay if you cannot complete the whole section. Since I had the unplanned nero last week, I have been about half off on the sections. I am completing the same mileage, but I am usually ending up in the middle of a section in a small village. Today's nero will get me back in line. When I finish tomorrow, I will be in Mancilla, 16.5 miles away.
It is now just after 1 p.m. and I am in the restaurant deciding what to eat. As crazy as it sounds, I am contemplating pizza. If you know me, you know in regular life, you know I do not like or eat cheese. When I am hiking, I actually crave it. It is that way today. My diet must lack the fat or protein, or something. All I know is that cheese is only good when I am hiking.
In this restaurant, the man and wife who run it have good taste in music. He is behind the bar and is blaring American music from the sixties and the seventies. There is a lot of disco in the playlist. It is a welcome sound from home for me. Also, this is now the third place with a well in the restaurant! It must be a point of pride. This well has a curb (side) that is too high for me to look down into it while standing on the floor. I hesitate to drag up a chair and stand in it.
By the way, I ate the pizza and it was pretty good. That lunch today was probably more pizza than I have eaten in the last five years!
I ended today at mile 259.8.
WEDNESDAY 28 MAY 2025
I have been away from my home one month today. If you have been following along, you will remember that I was originally scheduled to fly to Madrid on April 28. That was the day that most of Spain, and some of France and Portugal lost power, so I stayed at my sister Laura's house before going back to ATL on Tuesday.
This morning, I left Bercianos at 05:55. I had a big section to walk and I wanted to get a good start before it got too hot. I made it out of town using my headlight, and I did not get lost once. To be fair, Bercianos is a small place with one main street that runs from end to end. It was not a huge challenge. By ten thirty or eleven, I had completed about eight or ten of the 16 miles I had to walk today. It was not too hot yet, but my feet were kind of damp inside my shoes, and I did not want any more blisters, so I sat down on a bench and took off my shoes and socks to let them and my feet dry. This is the best thing I have found to prevent blisters. Keep your feet dry kids! It was also nice to rest for a few minutes and watch the other Pilgrims pass. You can almost tell who has made a reservation for tonight, and who is rolling the dice on whether or not something will be available when they get to town. The ones who are rolling the dice are all business. They have no time for dry feet and a rest on a bench. The task to be completed is to be the first one to town! There is no time to waste!
I will admit that I was part of that crowd for about the first week I was walking the Camino. I did not know where I was going to wind up each day, so I just hoped for the best and asked for availability until someone said yes. It is not super competitive, but you could not waste time in park benches. After a week or so, you kind of know your limits and can make better plans if you so chose. I like to book about three or four days out. There are family run hotels all over the Camino thay will have ten or fifteen rooms. They are usually very clean, they are pretty inexpensive, and they are simple. If you are close to the office, the wifi usually is pretty good. If you are not, go and sit in the lobby.
Today was a left side of the road walking experience all day. It was also a day to see farmers in action. Just walking along, I saw a man on a Fendt tractor spraying a field of corn that was about six inches tall. I am assuming fertilizer was what he was spraying. Incidentally, the world headquarters for Fendt is in Duluth, Georgia. Now you know.
A little later in the day, I saw a man on a John Deere tractor planting corn. He had a big rig. He was planting ten or twelve rows at a time.
An hour or so later, I saw a guy on a Massey Ferguson raking hay. I don't know if he was in a hurry or if he just like to work fast, but he was letting that tractor have the fuel.
I saw another Fendt pulling a trailer loaded with hay. If you saw the Instagram post the other day that had the huge hay trailer, then you know what this guy was pulling. He had it LOADED. This Fendt was not a small tractor and it had all it wanted to pull. I heard it coming before I saw it. The guy had that tractor hollering.
(If you have been missing the Instagram posts, go to Instagram and search for HikerOnlyjohn).
Incidentally, these tractors I have seen in Spain have top shelf road gears. They will run down the road at what looks to be forty miles an hour. They also come equipped with turn signals and proper head and tail lights.
I saw a new McCormick at a co-op all shined up to sell. Then I saw, wait for it... a Lamborghini tractor driving down the road. If you perhaps were not aware, Lamborghini has been in the tractor business longer than they have been in the supercar business.
There is a story in the car world that has been told and retold with additions and subtractions to keep it interesting, about a time in the nineteen sixties when Mr. Lamborghini was having trouble with the clutches in his personal Ferrari 250 GT's. Mr. Lamborghini sent word to Enzo Ferrari that he might have a solution to the clutch problem and would be glad to show Ferrari his solution. Mr. Ferrari dismissed the offer from Mr. Lamborghini and sent word for Mr. Lamborghini to stick to the tractor business. No common tractor mechanic was going to have anything to do with the fabled Ferrari cars! Shortly after that, Lamborghini rolled out their own supercar with an even more powerful engine AND a clutch that would hold it. The rest, as they say, is history.
During all the farming, I had a chance to walk over two canals today. These canals, I believe, are part of the irrigation system that is basically watering all of this part of Spain. I haven't seen a lot of it but it is impressive to me in both size and scope. I don't think this part of Spain gets a lot of rain in the Spring and Summer. Consequently the need for water on all of these fields I am seeing is great. Through ditches, canals, wells piping, center pivot irrigation, etc., there is water coming from everywhere except the sky. It is impressive. I would like to see an engineering plan that shows how all of that water gets sent around the country.
Thay was my Wednesday. I ended the day at 276.1 for a total of 16.3 miles.
THURSDAY, 29 MAY 2025
I left Mancilla at about 06:30 this morning. The days have begun to get hot around eleven a.m. I am trying my best to get the biggest portion of my hiking day finished before noon. Usually I average finishing between 12:30 or one p.m., and today was no different. I made it to the far east side of Leon at about eleven thirty. When I get to a town I always look for the church steeple or the Cathedral. That is usually the area where I am going to stay for the evening.
Just like pretty much every morning I stopped in Arcahuelja for my breakfast. Just before I stopped, the Camino crossed a river with a huge bridge that looked pretty old.
Leon is a pretty good size town. I would say it is the biggest city I have visited yet while on the Camino. I could see the Cathedral spires off in the distance on the other side of town. I was not unhappy about this development. Since about nine, the Camino had risen steadily on the westbound side of one of those bowl shaped craters I have described previously. There was also no wind on the westbound side and it was hot. When I finally got to the top and over the lip, I was headed down and into the wind and it felt good. I walked down into Leon and when the road flattened out, I put the location of my hotel into Google Maps. It told me I had a 40 minute walk. I did not mind. The breeze was blowing and there were trees for shade along the street. I even had a Coke in my pack if I needed a pause that refreshed. (See what I did there? That was about a sixty year old marketing campaign from Coca Cola.)
As I was making my way across town I had to pass through a park. As I was headed west, two ladies were headed east. As we passed each other she asked me if my leg hurt. I pointed to my ankle and said it was ok but not great. She basically said what I think was "take it easy" and then "Buen Camino!" and we were both on our way again. We will never see each other again, but it was nice of her to stop and see how I was doing.
I am now sitting on the steps in the lobby of my hotel waiting on three p.m. to roll around. I am checked in and waiting for the people who clean the rooms to finish. I do not even have a key. I got an email this morning that asked me to complete my booking and check in online. You have to put the information from your passport into the check in information. I suppose it is so the EU can see where people are going.
After I did that, I received a text with a link that has my electronic door key. I would go ahead and slip into the room, but the link does not activate until three. I have twenty-nine minutes.
Tomorrow is going to be a shorter day of walking. The section is 21.3 kilometers, or 13.2 miles. I ended in Leon today at mile 287.7 and a daily total of 11.6 miles. If nothing breaks or falls apart, I should complete the Camino two weeks from today.
POST SCRIPT:
It is now about seven p.m. and I want to tell you about the foolish thing I did while running two simple errands this evening.
I needed to go to the pharmacy for some Bandaids and tape for my foot and then just up the street to the supermarket to get a couple of items. Since I have been leaving early lately, I need to get something to eat until I can get to a villiage where something is open and get a regular meal. The trip to the pharmacy went fine, I was in and out in five minutes. When I went to the supermarket, it was also going well. I found my stuff and went to the counter to pay. Here comes the problem.
When I got to the counter, I had my pharmacy bag and my phone in one hand and was guiding my cart with the other. When I started unloading my cart, I put the bag and the phone down so I could get out my credit card. I paid I got my food and my pharmacy bag and left.
I got almost to my hotel when I realized that I did not have my phone. I had picked up everything but it! I did not run back to the store, but I did not waste any time either. I walked in and had to then stand in line to get to the counter. My phone was not where I left it, and I could not see it behind the counter. Short of losing my passport, this would be the worst thing that could happen. I could not even call or email to get a replacement. I did not even have a way to get into my hotel. My door key was a signal from my phone.
Finally, it was my turn. The lady looked up and I said do you have my phone? I motioned with my thumb and little finger like I was holding a phone and then she said "ahh si esta aqui!" and pulled my phone out of a drawer. I said Gracias, and thank you probably too loudly for the inside of the store, but I was happy to get it back. She smiled at me and I left.
It has been said many times that God takes care of fools and drunks. I was dead sober so you know what that makes me.
FRIDAY, 30 MAY 2025
I left my hotel in Leon this morning at 06:15. It is still hot and I want to get as much done as I can as early as I can. My plan is to finish this twelve mile section at about lunchtime. That gives me time to rest and get my clothes clean for tomorrow. Tomorrow is a seventeen mile stretch. I plan to leave about 05:30. I am directly across the highway from the Camino. There should not be too much chance of getting lost or going the wrong way. All I have to do is cross the road and turn right. We will see.
When I left the hotel, I was basically in the middle of Leon. It took me another hour and a half to walk out. As you would imagine, the center of these towns is where all of the old stuff resides. Over the years, people just build on the outskirts as the edge of town moves farther and farther away. I walked through the old stuff this morning. There is a university, a museum, parks and squares everywhere, a cathedral that is huge, smaller churches, and mom and pop stores everywhere, selling everything. In the square in front of the Museum of Leon, there was this statue of a Pilgrim on the Camino. Footwear being what it was 900 years ago, I can see why the statue had his sandals off.
On the way out of Leon, as I was climbing out of the valley, I noticed that several "streets" along the way up had what I can only guess were houses that had been dug out of the side of the hill sometime in the past 100 or so years. None of them were being used now. It seemed that people would dig out two or three, move up a little higher and then dig a few more. I imagine they were cool in the summer, and probably pretty warm in the winters because all of them had some type of chimney. I just wonder if they leak when it rains. It would seem that they would.
My plan worked today. I finished my twelve miles at about 12:45. I crossed the road from the Camino and was in my room in a matter of a few minutes. I have showered, rinsed out my shirt and socks, and had a huge lunch. The lady that checked me in was adamant that I understand that the kitchen closes at four p.m. on Friday! I said that was fine with me. I plan to be watching YouTube when that deadline comes.
SATURDAY, 31 MAY, 2025
I stepped out of my hostel this morning at 05:15. I think this was the longest walk for me so far. Today's walk was supposed to be 28.5 km, or about 18 miles. I was leaving very early to take advantage of the cool air and get some miles on the board before it got too hot. The Camino was straight and flat this morning. That was good because I was working with my headlamp and I needed all the help I could get not to stray onto some field road and then have to back track.
After about an hour, the sun was coming up and I put the light away. I was walking down what amounted to a field road that was directly beside the paved road that the cars use. It was a nice walk. There were bollards every so often to keep cars and tractors off the Camino. I will admit, that field road would be very handy if you could get on it with a car...
Very shortly after the field road walk, I arrived in San Martin. It is a small village with basically one main street. If I were to guess, I would say about 800 people live there. On thay main drag was an albergue that also sold food to passing Pilgrims. I stopped for a bite because my granola bar was getting thin. Today instead of my usual coffee and Neopolitan, I had coffee and a piece of tostado. This is a dish that is made in a skillet. It is basically potatoes with onions, eggs, cheese and milk, I think. A lot of people put French fries in for the potatoes. It is baked and when it is done, you can cut it like a cake. It is very filling and is tasty first thing in the morning. I ate that was was back out on the road in about 20 minutes. I was making good time and did not want to lose the cool air. Very shortly I left San Martin and walked down a slight grade and into a bit of a valley. The overall terrain is still pretty flat, but there are still a few hills to climb just to keep it interesting. After a bit of up and down for two or three miles, I came into the town of Hospital De Orbigo. This is a very old town with a very old bridge that was built by the Romans. The Romans originally built the bridge over the river Orbigo to connect Leon and Astorga. As luck would have it, several midieval hospitals grew up around the bridge. I guess that is how the town got it's name. I walked over thay old bridge like people have done for a thousand years. As I was crossing it, I noticed there will be a jousting tournament next week. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT.
Once I got through the woods and up the top of the ridge, it was hot. But like the old hospitals back at the bridge, someone had put up a rest stop for Pilgrims. This rest stop had plenty of shade, snacks and drinks, hammocks and benches, and even a dog that could play soccer. I am not lying! The dog had his own ball. If you would kick it to him, he would stop it, and then use his head to basically bat it back to you. If you tried to kick it around him, he would run and stop the ball and bat it around you. There was a college kid that was playing with him for 20 minutes and honestly the dog could hold his on with the kid!
After about 20 minutes, I left and started again for Astorga. It was about three miles from the soccer playing dog. Just after I walked away, there was a distance marker for the rest of the Camino. It said I had 167.5 miles left until Santiago. It does not seem like it should be that short.
In about another hour, I walked into Astorga. I am staying in an old building across from the Cathedral. I think it used to be a convent or something like that. The walls are about two feet thick. As hot as it is outside, the walls are still cool to the touch.
I am now at mile 320. Tomorrow is a shorter walk of about 13 miles. My plan is to again get out early and see what Sunday brings.
