So we took the bus from Málaga to La Linea that departed at 06:30 with a full complement of passengers. We arrived at our destination a bit late.

Starting our first day at gone 09:00 with 27 km to walk didn’t seem wise, so we jumped in a taxi to San Roque 8 km into our stage. We popped into a handy Mercadona for lunch supplies and set off. 

Initially there was a road with no shoulder but the traffic gave us plenty of space. We remained on the road for around four kilometres before diverting onto a sand track. 

A thick blanket of a cloud hovered over Gibraltar and La Linea but once we were on the track we enjoyed blue skies and a fresh breeze.  However that breeze soon turned into a 30 km/h headwind raising pesky dust devils in our path.

There is very little shade on this track which isn’t a problem today with this wind to keep us cool but in very hot weather it could be an issue.

We then go through a more shady section amongst scrubby trees and rough sandy dirt tracks. We walk amongst cistus bushes and wild lavender. The track becomes barely discernible and have to do a bit of scrambling down some slippy rocks and over a small stream and back up the other side

We eventually emerge onto a quiet narrow road and after some distance, at the top of a hill about halfway to our destination we find a beautiful spot for a lunch break.

After a few kilometres with only a couple of vehicles passing we are directed into a field of thistles where we have another indistinct path. It’s very useful to have a map to follow. 

This path is really difficult to walk on. Rather than being wet and muddy as I had anticipated, after all the rain they’ve had recently in southern Spain, it couldn’t be more dry. But when it was wet and muddy herds of cows have walked along this track knee deep and left deep ruts for me to trip over and twist my ankles on. Luckily my trusty pacer poles come to the rescue and keep me upright.

There are quite a few gates to contend with today but luckily all are easily passable. 

We had an unexpected river crossing which required a ‘boots off/sandal strapped on’ moment. The river flowed over a concrete passing point which was very slippery and very fast flowing but only mid-calf deep, so we made our way over very carefully. It was actually rather nice to cool our feet.  Apparently there is a primitive suspension bridge to walk over in these conditions but we couldn’t discern a route to it.

Soon after we’re back on a minor road, again with no shoulder, and the cars and lorries fly past at great speed. It feels rather dangerous and the drivers aren’t so courteous as we’ve been used to earlier in the day. We remain on this road for about four kms until we reach our stage end. 

The Via Serrana is a little walked camino and consequently there is not the normal pilgrim infrastructure that we enjoy on busier routes. There are no albergues until we reach the Via de la Plata so we’ve had to book accommodation in hostels and small hotels. 

We are spending the night at Hostal Sabana (€55 for both of us) which is comfortable enough. We wander around  the small town, buy some groceries for supper and tomorrow’s lunch, and enjoy a glass of wine in one of the bars. The town is not very inspiring. 

We both feel pretty tired at the end of the day even though we’ve only walked 20 kms, the mixture of a day’s travelling yesterday and a very early start today seems to have drained us both. No doubt we will toughen up.