Elevation gain 79 m

Elevation loss 136 m

Total distance walked 187 km

When I peep out the door 10 minutes before our arranged taxi time he is already there, so we grab our stuff and leave the house. I’m surprised at quite how dark it is at 06:30 and there is nothing to see out of the car windows. We arrive in the centre of El Coronil at 07:00 and of course as it is a holiday there is no one around and nothing is open.

Within a few minutes, we’re walking on a track that’s particularly soft due to the rain and not a little bit muddy but nothing problematic at the moment.

Presumably there was a gradual change of scenery somewhere between Coripe and El Coronil from green pastures to golden barley and newly ploughed fields. So when we exit the town and are immediately in the countryside the view is no longer green rolling hills but brown and beige rolling hills. 

There are dozens probably hundreds of the gigantic freestanding solar panels that change direction with the movement of the sun and there is a lot of low-level cloud obstructing our long-distance view.  It’s quite eerie in this low light, low cloud atmosphere.

A pair of quail burst out from their hiding place and startle me as I walk past. There are distant sounds of cattle and sheep. I certainly prefer the lush green rolling landscape of days gone by but this track has some magical qualities at this early time of day with lots of hanging cloud.

There are quite a few new plantings of olives which will change the outlook in a couple of years. All the way along the track so far there are electricity pylons and cables in all directions.

I’m making a very slow progress this morning – constantly stopping to take photos and look around and listen to birds and marvel at the sun rising through the clouds.

After about an hour of walking a muddy gravel track it turns into a purely muddy mud track and the difference to what clings to our boots is instant and considerable, making it very hard work. The very clingy build-up of a thick layer of compacted mud adds weight and unaccustomed depth to my boots.

What a short while ago was a magical dream has now become a bit of a nightmare – the weight of the mud clinging to my boots is making every step an effort. But it’s not the worst mud that Nina and I have encountered – the camino de la Lana would be difficult to beat in the mud stakes. 

Talking of boots I have thus far been very pleased with my new boots this year. I wanted to stick with Merrell as they’ve always been comfortable and, though not especially hard wearing, they’ve always lasted well enough to see me through my caminos and then some dog walking afterwards.  These are Wrapt Mid Waterproof Boots with barefoot fit, although I’ve probably destroyed the barefoot aspect by using my own insoles.  But nevertheless they have been very comfortable and just about sturdy enough for the terrain on this camino. I would have preferred the lovely rich brown colour which doesn’t show the dirt so much but the black ones were on sale and £30 cheaper so it wasn’t a hard decision to go for the black.

Now that the sun is well and truly risen there is a nice blue sky with white fluffy clouds dotted about.

After climbing another couple of hills the ground has dried out although my boots most definitely have not emptied themselves of mud but doubtless that will happen over time.

I realise that I haven’t turned on my Wikiloc recording so apologies for that. At 9:20 we’ve been walking for over 2 hours, albeit rather slowly, so I would guesstimate that we have covered maybe 6 – 8  km.

The surrounding fields are once more green now. I have an unknown crop to my left which I think maybe a cover crop and on the right are young sunflowers plants – so this will be a sight to behold in maybe six weeks. Later there are plantings of vetch. 

By 10 the mist has risen and the mud has long returned. 

As we approach the village of Los Molares approx 12 km from El Coronil there’s a recreation ground where, for the fourth time, I remove my boots to empty the little stones and mud and try and scrape as much  off the outside as possible. Once we get going again we are on sand – mud free, very comfortable.

We stop at a bar for cold drinks. At 11:30 it’s bustling with customers chatting noisily as only the Spanish can. Los Molares is a large town with plenty of bars. 

When we leave we are on a narrow road, no shoulder, quite busy but the drivers don’t seem to be in too much of a rush on this fiesta day and I don’t feel threatened. Which is just as well as we remain on the road for the rest of the stage.  I have to say for the time being it’s an absolute delight to be walking on a dry surface and to leave that mud behind.

Birds of the day…

House Sparrow

Spotless Starling

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Crested Lark

Zitting Cisticola

Corn Bunting

Common Quail

Common Reed Warbler

Calandra Lark

Greater Whitethroat

Melodious Warbler

Utrera is a large town, probably classed as a city. Buildings of all periods and mostly very attractive. I have not booked camino accommodation in advance previously – always having used albergues. But that wasn’t an option in the Via Serrana. In small towns and villages it doesn’t really matter where the accommodation is situated because nothing is very distant from the route. But when you arrive in a large sprawling town it’s a lot more relevant. Today we are a long way from both the city centre and the camino route – a good (or bad!) 30 minutes away. It is a lesson to be heeded in future. 

The accommodation is pretty poor – but we’ve been a bit spoiled lately – it’s probably a lot better than we’ll get once we’re using albergues!