San Esteban de Gormaz to Quentanarraya

We climbed up to the castle wall yesterday afternoon. There are lots of cave houses up there and great views over the town and surrounding countryside. 

This morning is foggy and cold – the forecast says 2°c – and that’s just how it feels.  We only have to walk 1 km to reach a track.  It’s comfortable and wide with crop fields to either side.  I finally warm up after about 4 km.  

This is the stage where I have something to prove – that is, the stage where I had my ‘incident’ 2019. But l feel reasonably fit so I’m not unduly worried. 

We reach the first village of Matanza de Soria at 6.5 km with the fog still heavy and low – my info says there’s a bar here but we don’t find one. 

Then we’re on the road – the SO–P–5004, which is quiet but the vehicles that pass us whizz by at great speed. 

We arrive at the second village Villálvaro where there is a bar but it’s closed. This is where my hip gave way previously so I’m glad to pass straight through. 

When we leave we’re still on the road which is now lined with vineyards.

The fog finally lifts and the sun puts in an appearance at 9:45 after we’ve walked 11.5 km. 

The third village at 16 km is Zayas de Vascones. No facilities but Nina and I take a rest and a bite to eat. 

Still on the road to village number four, Alcubilla de Avellandea, at 22 km and guess what?  No bar. 

So, having passed through the village where I finished my Ruta de la Lana last time I am now in new territory – let’s hope with no mishaps. On leaving the village we are finally on a track. 

So 15.5 km on road, not great. We lost Paul half way through as he had followed a different route – also with camino arrows. I think he probably walked a km or two further than us but almost entirely on track – so he won!

And after a long climb on a very rough path, we come to a plateau and then a very long and gentle descent into village number five, Hinojar del Rey 27.5 km, also without services. 

That left just another 2.5 km to our end point at Quintanarraya where there’s an albergue.  The info I’ve downloaded from the Lana Association states there is a bar/restaurant and shops. Well the bar that is supposed to open at 19:00 doesn’t open and there are no shops. Obviously if we’d  known this we’d  have bought food with us for tonight. Luckily there’s a Dutch cycling couple staying at the albergue and they offer us bread that we can eat with some tinned pate stashed in my bag. Kindness strangers!

We learn later that the guy who runs the bar had a medical issue that prevented him from opening. 

The Albergue is ok, lots of beds and plenty of blankets, microwave, and fridge stocked with a variety of drinks for purchase at very reasonable prices.  But the town is a bit desolate – virtually no one to be seen. And just to add insult to injury there’s absolutely no internet or phone signal in the village. Although on the bright side there are lots of lovely cats and dogs.