Mandayona to Sigüenza, 22.7 km

Our taxi arrives at 07:00 and takes 15 minutes to transport us 16 km back to Mandayona. Let’s see how long it takes us to make the return trip. 

We have left a lot of our backpack contents at the parador so we are all feeling very light on our feet. It makes me think that I must try harder to pack less in future.

Last time we walked from Mandayona, also after a lot of rain, there was a stretch where the path had turned into a stream probably 6+ inches deep when we had to de-boot, strap on our sandals and dip our toes in icy, literally icy, water (there had been a hail storm the night before). Fingers crossed we won’t have a repeat of that today 🤞

The sky is glorious – plenty of grey clouds but also some fluffy white ones, and in between a smidgen of blue sky and the sun rising over the high cliffs that surround us. 

The track runs alongside the Rio Dulce – the sound of the water burbling mixes with the loud and varied bird song. 

We are on a road for a while into Aragosa, a tiny village surrounded by towering mountains.

After the village the scenery just becomes more and more beautiful. We reach the place where we had to paddle last time – there’s an expanse of water that completely covers the track but we can circumnavigate via a raised bank. So no wet feet today. 

The scenery is open and truly beautiful with the towering cliffs far apart on either side. 

The track winds through the crop fields, occasionally right alongside the river. The sun is fully out, there’s a lovely mild breeze and all is well for the time being. The forecast predicts that 14:00 will bring 4 mm of rain – who knows, it might be wrong, it has been known before. 

The mountains that have surrounded us at a distance are now getting closer together and we will soon be walking through the amazing gorge.

There are lots of places where water covers the track but we can scramble through brambles and wild roses and goodness knows what else to avoid it. 

I see a few groups of vultures high up on the cliffs but nowhere near as many as we saw last time. 

Eventually the gorge widens and there are a few ruins dotted about. I accidentally left the Merlin bird app running for 10 minutes and the result was very interesting.

And this selection from earlier…

I have stayed back from the other others as I really like wandering through this environment on my own. 

Then we are back amongst civilisation as we pass through the tiny village of La Cabrera – all the buildings are beautiful old stone. 

We cross the ancient stone bridge and civilisation soon disappears. We are back on a narrow rough track where we see signs for the Camino del Cid.

And then the gorge is no more. The mountains have receded on both sides and we’re now walking next to crop fields and electricity pylons, but nevertheless we’re walking through nature and it’s green and pleasant.

We pass alongside a crop field for a couple of kilometres and eventually the hilltop castle of Pelegrín looms into view.  We previously climbed that hill and found a café near the top but this time I walk by without diverting, 15.5 km

Then there’s a stiff climb up a narrow mountain track where I see a sign for camino de Don Quixote, so we now there are four routes using the same trail, our camino, GR10, el Cid, and Quixote. 

At the top there’s a long stretch on a flat granite-strewn plateau. People have gone to a lot of trouble to mark these trails in the wilderness where there would otherwise be no obvious route to take and I thank them one and all. 

We finally emerge from the wilderness and take a very steep and rocky descent to finally reach the main road at 21 km. Having kept my boots clean throughout the day, the last 20 meters is via a freshly ploughed very muddy field and near the end of our stage they are now caked with mud. 

We cross onto another track which eventually leads us to the foot of the castle/parador where we need to pay another visit to pick up our left luggage, and whilst there we treat ourselves to a cup of their delicious thick hot chocolate – a happy end to a wonderful camino stage.