Linyola – Algerri, 33.3 km

Elevation gain 251 m

Elevation loss 144 m

Total distance 140 km

We didn’t really make an effort yesterday to discover Linyola in any great depths. When we arrived, we walked through the church square and past a beautiful ancient arcade but the rest of the town seems to be newish and almost entirely unfinished.

This morning we leave on the dot of 07:00 to a bright and fresh day. We have a long stage today with uncertain accommodation when we get there, in addition to which there is a forecast of rain due to start at 1pm and a heavy downpour starting at 3pm. It’s unlikely we’ll reach our destination before then.

We are on a gravel track as soon as we leave town – not the nice smooth compacted gravel but the type with bigger bits of stone which makes for uncomfortable walking – hopefully it will smooth out soon

And indeed the gravel track does smooth out after a couple of kilometres which is much more comfortable (for a while – it changed back to bigger stones as we continued). The scenery so far is the same as yesterday, very flat with cereal crops abounding, poppies at the edges of the fields and a beautiful mackerel sky.

There are many irrigation channels in this area. Yesterday they were wide fast flowing and pristine clean. Today I’ve heard the water running under drain covers and have seen acequias (narrow channels). There are some very complicated looking diversion taps to send the water in the right direction.

I heard my first cuckoo calling today. That made me smile!

Although the scenery continues to be stunning, I have to say I’m getting a tad weary of walking along wide fairly straight tracks for hours and hours on end. Give me a rugged narrow path any time, even if it does slow the pace considerably. The mountains in the distance seem to be a bit less distant today.

It seems we are now in cow country. This morning is the first time on this camino that I have seen any livestock (other than hearing the plaintive cries of the pigs in their concrete bunkers). I’ve just passed the third cow station – all enclosed in pens, probably to be fattened up for their eventual demise. I have to say that the Camino del Norte was probably the most delightful trail to see animals living their best life – beautiful cows with their bells ringing in harmony, grazing luscious grass and with the Atlantic Ocean for a backdrop. They would often saunter over to the fence to say hello

The first place we reach is Balageur which is another of those towns that you can see way in the distance and take forever to actually reach. I got to the outskirts at 11.25 km. It seems a very large town and not very attractive on the approach but the grim outskirts eventually give away to a rather charming old quarter with a beautiful large church and another on a hill, tucked behind the city wall together with a castle. If you’re walking this route, don’t stop at the first bar you find like we did but keep going until you reach the wide fast flowing river and enjoy your refreshment stop amongst some nice scenery

By 10 o’clock as we are leaving Balageur there is some real heat to the sun.

We each walked our own pace on the first section of this stage. I led the way then I suspect Marilyn followed with Paul behind but as is normally the case Paul eventually passed us both and he arrived in the town first. I caught up with him for our drink break, but there was no sign of Marilyn and it turned out that she had taken an unscheduled diversion which added a few kilometres to her route.

On leaving the town Paul and I followed yellow arrows which took us to a main road. I checked where we were against the track I had downloaded and it was clear that we were far from where we needed to be, so retraced our steps to the main square. By which time we were behind Marilyn!

After a steep climb out of the town we continue on a very quiet country road where the crops seem to be at a more advanced stage. Fewer swathes of bright green replaced by gold and flax colours. I have read an account of a friend who walked this route several years ago but much later in the year after the crops had been harvested and the fields ploughed and she commented on how drab the scenery was with all the brown fields stretching out in the distance. I think we have timed this just about right.

There have been conflicting arrows on several occasions on this camino, including another one later in the day.

I suspect this huge unit is full of sad pigs, although I can’t know that for sure. But there is a very distinguishable stench that comes out of these units which I recognise from the first time we saw one when we could actually tell there were pigs inside from their awful cries. There have been many of these units along the way, mostly not as modern looking as this one, but all with the same awful smell. The cows I passed this morning (and there were plenty of them corralled into a pen) didn’t leave any lingering smell at all they could see the light of day.

Halfway to the next village the scenery changes somewhat – instead of vast swathes of cereal crops we now have hills and trees. But we also have ominous dark clouds preparing for the downpour that we have been promised and that duly empties upon us, accompanied by much clapping of thunder.

At Castelló de Farfanya we found shelter under some stone arches and ate supplies from our packs. The rain stopped for a while and we took to the road.

The track is now firm sand which might be the most comfortable surface to walk on. But no sooner had I done a little happy dance than the rain started again and the sand morphed into thick cloying clay which hangs on your boots and weighs you down.

We reach Algerri after 33 km (including the two when Paul and I followed the wrong arrows) and were rather anxious that we wouldn’t be able to access the albergue. It is operated by the townhall and I haven’t been able to contact anyone the over weekend to arrange entry on a Sunday. But we needn’t have worried as the social club next door was in full swing with guys playing cards, and as soon as we peeped inside we were welcomed most heartily to go through the registration process. I have to say that this is one of the best albergues with the most wonderful welcome. Thank you Algerri.

Algerri is a small town with an extremely big church.

Accommodation notes:

Albergue de Peregrinos, Pl. Major, 1, ajuntament@algerri.ddl.net, Web: www.algerri.cat. It is recommended to contact in advance via email preferably or by phone at City Hall (+34 973 426 013, Monday to Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.) to arrange the day and time of arrival. €10, twelve places, kitchen, excellent reviews