Day One - Too Many Midges and Miles

Day One Camino de San Salvador -  Léon to La Roble

A longer first day than I intended, but the first day on the Camino del San Salvador is complete.

I left Leon in the dark, after another night with very little sleep. Lots of loud shouting and dramatic conversations going on, as well as singing and some sort of musical clapping which sounded interesting - but was less so because of the clock’s illumination - 3:00 am. The special rush of stepping out on the first day was still there though, jet lagged mind or not.

The path follows the river and then road for the first 7 miles. Then suddenly the pavement and houses end and a graveled path begins. It is a fairly tame day in regard to ascents and descents, but what I thought would be around 15 miles turned into almost 19. Most of the day was spent off-road, walking on sometimes rough paths. There were many shady spots to rest, and a beautiful place to fill up my water bottle in Cascantes, and a lovely chapel.

I walked with Jose and Eva from Barcelona, Miguel from Madrid and Phil from New Zealand. We are all a bit unsure about tomorrow. We are each meeting people along the way, and there is a serious front moving in tomorrow, and the walking the next few days is mountainous and spectacular - and dangerous in bad weather. We are hoping we don’t have to skip this section - but losing your life in the Asturias isn’t the way any of us would like to go.

I was glad to find my pensión in La Robla - a quiet room for one tonight? I have learned the lesson of getting an occasional private room, to catch up on sleep, but I seem to be unable to catch the “quiet room fairy” as La Robla is having some sort of music event - a great band doing American 80’s rock in the town square. Might be the night to try the heavy duty ear plugs!

I’m trying not to worry too much about tomorrow’s weather and walk. It certainly won’t change anything and is all part of the journey.