September 10, 2018
- Route: Los Arcos to Navarrete
- Distance: 40.6 kilometers (25.17 miles)
This morning I departed town just as the sun was rising, and it cast a beautiful golden hue over the harvested fields and many vineyards. This is one of the best reasons to begin walking early. The mornings temperatures are cool and the sun warms your back as you walk.
With reservations in hand for my next albergue, I felt a bit more sure of myself. I knew exactly where I was going to stay this evening, and I wouldn’t have to scramble around or risk another full hostel when I arrived.
A festive town
The Camino’s route this morning was fairly flat as I passed through lots of fields and vineyards. There were a few ups and downs, but I was making pretty good time. I passed in and out of several towns, and admired the intricate architecture – particularly on the churches.
Then, as I got closer to the town of Viana, I heard something that sounded like gunfire. That’s never a good thing. After two decades in the military, I always assume the worst when I hear certain noises. But, none of the other pilgrims around me seemed worried in the least. And I reminded myself I wasn’t in a combat zone. I was in Spain walking on the Camino.
As I entered Viana, I could see the town was getting ready some sort of festival. I was now second guessing whether I’d actually heard gunfire before. Perhaps it just some fireworks going off. The worst possible scenario was that it was just a few celebratory gunshots.
I stopped a young woman to ask what was going on in town, and I learned they were preparing for the annual festival to celebrate the grape harvest. There was going to be a parade with giant costumed characters in medieval grab. And later in the day, the town planned a miniature running of the bulls in the streets!
As I walked through the streets, I couldn’t help thinking that the town of Viana was lovely. There with several interesting looking restaurants, an outfitter catering to pilgrims, and lots of stores too. If I was recommending a town where pilgrims might want to stop on the Camino, this would definitely be one of them.
Foot problems
I decided I needed to sit for a bit a rest in one of Viana’s small parks. I like to spend most of my day walking, and don’t tend to take too many rest breaks. However, my feet were causing me a lot of pain this morning, and I really needed to take of my shoes for a better look.
While the plantar fasciitis pain in my arches seemed to have diminished some since yesterday, I now had a new pain. When I took off my shoes and socks, I discovered I was developing some blisters on the last two toes on my left foot. Not good news!
As I sat on a park bench, I took the time to drain some blisters and bandage up my feet. I had no idea why I was getting blisters now – five days into my hike. My shoes are plenty big enough, so I knew that wasn’t the cause. I’d keep my feet clean and dry. So why the sudden blisters?
After trying to puzzle this problem out, and not coming up with any solutions, I decided to get back to walking. Logroño was only another 10 kilometers down Camino. I could rest my feet more at the albergue.
Getting to Logroño early
The walk toward town was fairly easy, but not nearly as scenic as the morning. Much like Pamplona, Logroño was a bigger city with expansive suburbs. I had to walk beside plenty of busy roads, and through some industrial areas on the outskirts of town, on my way toward the city proper.
Experiencing full albergues the past few days worried me, so I tried to mitigate the risk. Last night, I estimated of how far I’d want to walk and I booked a reservation online at an albergue.
I didn’t randomly pick the town of Logroño as my stopping point though. I really tried to put some thought into where I’d end up. Logroño was approximately 29 kilometers from Los Arcos. Considering the aches and pains my body has been feeling recently, that distance seemed to be on the top end of what I should be attempting today.
There was only one problem. The terrain into Logroño was far easier than anticipated. It wasn’t even 1pm when I arrived! Why would I want to stop walking so early? The day was still young, and the blisters on my left foot weren’t hurting any more.
So, I went to the albergue and asked to cancel my reservation. Perhaps this was a risky proposition, but I wanted to keep walking until mid-afternoon. Letting my fears mold me toward some pre-determined schedule wasn’t the answer. Surely there would be somewhere else to stay further down the Camino.
Finding my way
Feeling better about my decision to take back control of my journey, I began to walk toward the outskirts of Logroño. Unfortunately, finding the Camino markers can be a challenge in a big city like this one.
There is no standardized method of marking the Camino. Symbols alternate between scallop shells and yellow arrows without any rhyme or reason. Sometimes the route will be marked down near the curb. Other times it might be marked at eye level on the side or a building or the back of a street sign.
Usually the markers are close enough together that you don’t have to walk too far before seeing the next on in the distance. But, on crowded city streets, spotting these markers can be far more difficult.
If the marking switches to the opposite side of a busy street filled with cars, you might miss it. If some hipster decides to put a sticker over the yellow arrow on a street sign, there may be nothing visible to show you the way.
I’d decided against carrying a guidebook or map to show me where to walk. I was just following the symbols indicating the route on this journey. And this minimalist approach was probably a mistake.
As I made my way through the center of Logroño, I saw a very clearly marked sign showing me the way. It said “Camino” and had an arrow pointing down the road. But, then as I waked down that road, I didn’t see anything for the next quarter mile. That was unusual.
Concerned that I’d accidentally missed a turn, I backtracked and retraced my steps. Still no symbols in sight! With few options, I decided to just keep walking the original direction and hoped for the best. About 400 feet later, I eventually saw a marker on a sign in the distance, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Whew…Small victories!
A hot, hot afternoon
As I made my way to the far end of Logroño, I was treated with an awesome surprise. Instead of leaving amidst concrete, gray scenery again, I would be heading out of town on running paths through a series of beautiful parks.
The groomed paths had lunchtime joggers, young families with strollers, people sitting on nearby benches. It was simply a lovely walk. Eventually, this led to La Grajera – a giant recreation park with a 40-acre reservoir and nature preserve.
During the last hour of walking through the park, the sun was becoming intense, and the water sources were more scarce. Soon I was back out in the countryside walking near fields, and there were no more big trees to shield me from the brutal sun.
This hot afternoon was reminding me once again why the Spanish choose to have an afternoon siesta and rest somewhere cool. After I canceled my reservation in Logroño though, I didn’t have much choice but to keep going. The next town of Navarette, was a full 15 kilometers further down the road!
A surprise in Navarette
I didn’t make it to Navarette until around 4 pm. Parched and tired, I decided to try the first albergue I came across. There were beds available, so I guess my gamble to walk away from my reservation in Logroño worked out after all.
The albergue had half a dozen South Africans in their 50s and 60s staying the night. They were an interesting group and spoke perfect English, so we enjoyed talking outside with a few beers while I recovered from the afternoon’s walk.
Once I was rehydrated, I decided to take stroll around the town to see it’s sights. I found a fairly big and modern grocery store and decided to shop for tomorrow’s meals.
Since starting the Camino, I’ve fallen into a little routine. I go to the market each day to buy food for breakfast and lunch, and carry that with me during the day so I can stop to eat whenever I get hungry. This strategy is also saving me money too. Instead of eating out for three meals a day, I’m generally only eating in restaurants and cafes for dinner.
As I wandered up and down the aisles of this giant grocery store, I started picking out some fruit and items for the next day’s breakfast. Then, just as I rounded the corner on one of the aisles, I spotted the most amazing item!
There, on the bottom shelf, were packages of Tortillas Mexicanas! Yes – REAL – tortillas. Not the Spanish omelet kind of tortillas, but the Latin American style of flour tortillas that you use for burritos or wraps!!
Holy moly. I was in heaven! Tortillas are one of my main stay hiking foods. They are so versatile. You can use them for sandwiches, or slather them in peanut butter and slice a banana inside. They allow you to hold your food easily while walking. And they don’t get smashed inside your backpack.
To be honest, I had to restrain myself and only buy one pack of tortillas this evening. Chances were, if they were selling them in Navarette, I’d find them again in some of the other big towns as well, right? There was no need to stock up and carry a bunch of extra weight.
But, it’s simply amazing how a small thing – like finding tortillas in the grocery store – could boost my morale for this journey and make me forget all about how hard this long, hot day had been.