Thursday May 16. Belorado to San Juan de Ortega

The power of rest and recuperation is amazing.  Today we had a 16 mile hike, which included a climb of 1200 feet.  We decided to leave at 7 am, as the forecast was for no rain in the morning, but rain in the afternoon.  We were able to complete the 16 miles in just under 6 hours including stops along the way, so we made very good time.  Interestingly, it started to rain about 10 minutes after we arrived.  People arriving later told us it had been snowing in the mountains whre we walked, so I am glad that we left early to avoid the rain and snow.

When we left this morning, it was very cold, about 35 degrees F, with a brisk wind in our face.  We were wearing 4 layers of clothing (short sleeve t shirt, long sleeve t shirt, regular shirt, light jacket), so it wasn't too bad.  It really never did warm up during the entire hike.

We started out the day hiking with the two American woman we had lunch with yesterday.  We were later joined by a retired couple, John and Louisa from Rochester, NY.  Louisa told us that two days ago in Najera they slept on mats in the floor of a gym, as all the hotels, albergues, etc were sold out.  We have heard this story repeatedly in this hike.  It would appear the demand for beds this year is outstripping the supply.

After a terrific stop for breakfast, we started up a fairly strenuous climb of over 1000 feet in a very short distance.  A young man wearing a San Diego Padres hat came up to us and asked if we were the people from San Francisco.  Apparently he had heard of us from somebody else and wanted to meet fellow Californians.  He introduced himself as Brian and said he was from Poway, California!  What a small world, as that's where we lived for almost 17 years!  His home is about 3 blocks from where we lived, and he graduated a few years ahead of our kids at Poway High School.

After arriving at San Juan de Ortega (a huge town with a population of 20!), we checked into our excellent lodging at La Henerera, a small 9 room hostel.  Our room is very nice, although there is no Internet here.  So, this won't get posted until we arrive in Burgos on Friday night.

Tomorrow, we have another 16 mile hike into Burgos.  The forecast is again for rain.  Perhaps we will get lucky once again and miss the rain.

Post Script:  it's  Friday, and we are stopped at a small cafe with internet on our walk to Burgos.  It has been snowing, sleeting and raining on the walk so far, with a temp of about 35 degrees.  I will post photos of yesterday and today later when we get to Burgos.