Covarrubias to Modúbar de la Emparedada

The first 6km into Mecerreyes is on a very quiet road.  There are several bars here but none is open at 8:30 on a Saturday. After Mecerreyes we are on track all the way to our end point.  The sky is not quite as grey as yesterday but there’s a gusty cold wind.   The tracks are mostly flat, compacted and comfortable through rolling crop fields, with skylarks serenading us. 

Mecerreyes is the only opportunity for somewhere to stay until Burgos, the final point on the Ruta de la Lana. Obviously we plan to walk considerably more than 6km. But we do have a problem that walking to Burgos from Covarrubias will be 40+ km. So we plan to get some form of transport later In the day. 

Nina and I find some comfortable boulders to perch on at 11.5 km where we can take a short break and snack. We left Paul slumbering this morning so have no idea where he is right now.  It’s a bit too cold to hang around for long, so we are soon on our way. 

Once we get going we walk alongside a lavender field that goes on forever – maybe 2 km – it must cover acres. We’ve seen a lot of cultivated lavender fields on this camino. 

We also see lots of wind turbines up ahead – we’ve  seen very few so far on this camino.

At around 16 km, we take a wrong turn but soon come to a road and realise our mistake and can walk back along the road to regain the track. There was good signage to begin with but it’s diminished to pretty much zero as we go along.

We arrive at Hontoria de la Cantera after 20 km. My info says no services but there is a bar open, maybe because it’s Saturday and it’s a social bar. It’s a pretty stone built village with some modern housing. 

Next to Revillarruz at 26 km. Once again my info – downloaded from the Lana Association – tells me there’s a bar/restaurant and shop here but there’s absolutely nothing. I ask a resident who tells me there’s a bar in a town off the camino about 5 km ahead. 

The rest of our walk is on a via verde – a disused railway line that has been laid to a gravel path. So the next village on my list is Cojobar with no services and then a short diversion from the camino into Modúbar de la Emparedada at 31.5 km, with a nice bar in the plaza mayor.  As we’re sitting in the bar there’s a huge clap of thunder followed by much more, and flashes of lightning, and a massive downpour – I hope Paul isn’t too far behind. 

Nina and I feel we could walk the additional 15-ish km into Burgos but we don’t feel we have anything to prove. So when a very bedraggled Paul turns up we ask the barman to order us a taxi into town. 

And here we are, having booked into the enormous municipal albergue (150 beds). As latecomers are allocated beds on the third floor and are all in bottom bunks. The facilities are excellent and the hospitaleros are charming. 

I’ve only passed straight through Burgos previously so it’s good to see more of this beautiful city. 

We held another planning meeting to decide what to do with our extra days. The forecast looks appalling – rain, rain, and a lot more rain – so we decided not to walk from here on the camino Frances for a few days, but take the train to León and then think again. 

We have to leave the albergue at 08:00 but fortunately we can leave our packs for collection later after they open again at midday. The first train to León is at 15:30 so we have the morning to wander around the city in the rain. 

Nina’s 9 year old granddaughter Ida has been keeping a tally of the kilometres we’ve walked along the way. So far we reckon it’s 291 including the 7 km we walked on our gorgeous side trip. Do you agree Ida?