A wonderful walk through fantastic scenery. A few blisters from the long descent at the end of the day, but otherwise in good form.
I left at 6:30, and set out up a steep path out of La Peza. Having to carry all my water for the day meant that I had an a 1.5 litre bottle of water in my pack, in addition to my usual two 0.75L water bottles. I could feel the weight of all that water and the bread, ham, cheese, and cake that I had packed to sustain myself. The moon was nearly full so I turned off my headlamp and walked in the moonlight, admiring the sky above and thinking back to my sailing trip earlier this year when I also had time to contemplate the stars. Temperatures were fresh until quite late; 10:30 or so, which allowed me to get up high and get some miles under my belt before the hot midday sun. The views speak for themselves – fabulous. I was overwhelmed. As the day heated up, I found a shady spot and napped for a while.
Afina and Charlotte, who were eating breakfast when I left, caught up with me as I was walking through what must have been a marble quarry. We walked some distance together.
At the end of the day, we met Axel – a transplant from Berlin to this small Andalusian community. He showed us to an apartment which is used to host pilgrims. It felt wonderful to shower and rest at last.