April 27 - Day 14

Day 14 - Belorado to Ages - 28 km

Wow, a rest day is great. We woke up and got ready to go, then had to wait 10 minutes for the office to open so we could turn in our key and leave our backpacks for pick up. Yes, we decided that baggage delivery was a good idea today as well, both so Rachel’s feet could take it easy and so we could do 28 km without the weight of a pack. Great idea. This 28 km was SO much better than our other 28 km day. It also helped that it was cool though sunny with a breeze. Perfect walking weather! Also today’s trail was almost all on dirt paths, much softer on our feet.

In fact, a lot of it was like walking in BC or Alberta bush, we even walked past some piles of logs.

Several small towns along the first part of our walk today, so we had choices where to stop for cafe. Nice.

Today we crossed over a “mountain pass”, Oca, not very mountainous. In medieval times, pilgrims were frequently overtaken by bandits here. No worries today. Once we got to the summit, we saw a monument built for three hundred victims of the Spanish Civil War who were from the Burgos area. Quite impressive. We were also quite close to some windmills. These are modern windmills, not like Don Quixote. We stopped there for a picnic lunch and chatted with a couple from Illinois.

After lunch it was mostly downhill, and this was the bush part. Quite different from other areas we have walked. Nice walk. On the way is a Camino Oasis, where you can get a massage, vino, snacks, or lounge on a hammock - for a donation. We still had a long way to walk so passed on the wine and massage. Got a couple of oranges. Saw Molly, a Camino friend from Day One, got some hugs.

We arrived at Ages about 2:00, we made good time today, probably due to not carrying backpacks. We checked into our albergue for the night, sharing on a room of eight bunk beds. Did our usual routine of shower, laundry, beer, snack. Then walked around the town. Took about 2 minutes.

Ages - the sign claims that Santiago is 518 km away

The church was interesting though. Looks old and run down on the outside but quite well kept inside. While we were there a little old Spanish lady came to show us around. We didn’t understand much of what she said, but she showed us how the window at the back reflects on the altarpiece. And there is a stained glass window dedicated to pilgrims with a conch shell.