Thursday, April 13, 2023
Walking from Almadén de la Plata to El Real de la Jara
14.4 kilometers, 20,240 steps

Today is the fourth day of walking from Seville to Santiago de Compostela on the Camino de Santiago route known as the Via de la Plata. And today was to be a shorter day at about 14 kilometers. Our Taiwanese friend Sharon is going to walk again today after two days resting her hip, and to ease her into walking, we are going to forward our backpacks to reduce the weight being carried. This will help Tom and me with the healing of our feet. My foot is much better, and Tom says the same. We have over 40 days of walking ahead, so taking care of our feet is important.

Here is a map of the route walked today from Almadén to El Real de la Jara. Notice the temperature in the upper left – today was cold and windy all day. Note, that on this map, the red indicates faster speed. And the red section today was on a fairly lengthy downhill section.

After breakfast and getting ready for a cool morning walk, Sharon left early, planning to walk slowly. Tom, Javier, and I met with Leonard at the church, and Tom took a picture. It was quite cool, and I was glad I had brought lightweight gloves since my hands are exposed constantly when using hiking poles.

Walking out of town and up past the bull ring, we were back on the Camino path and soon saw this sign describing the today’s Via de la Plata route to El Real de la Jara in good detail.

And after a short climb to the top of a hill, we descended into a forested valley, and continued on the path by a large hill to our left. In quiet of nature, away from highways, this is the best way to walk the Camino de Santiago.

Continuing on we were in a sparse forest of oak trees. Every 100 to 200 meters there was a Camino way marker assuring us that we were on the Camino path, and not getting lost as I did yesterday.

Some of the larger oak trees are quite striking. This one caught my eye, and there was a Camino way marker just under it.

Today the route is up and down, up and down – in a word, undulating. Ahead of me and the Camino way marker on the right are Javier and Leonard descending into another oak covered valley.

Through the oak valley, peaceful, serene, quite beautiful in the chilly morning breeze.

Ahead of me is Leonard and further are Javier and Tom as the path bordered by wildflowers slowly rises.

More wildflowers brighten our mood as I climb up another gradual hill.

Here we are walking up the path, past one of the older painted yellow arrows. The gray granite and light colored stone monument way markers are a very recent addition to the Via de la Plata in this area provided by a project of the Seville Province of the Autonomous Region of Andalusia.

Towards the end of today’s route, we climbed slowly up a long, long hill – steeper than climbing stairs in many parts. The steep uphill seemed relentless, almost taunting us with short flatter sections that led into another steep rise. We did finally make it to the top and started downhill into El Real de la Jara.

After getting to the top of that steep climb we were rewarded with a sweeping downhill and the view of El Real de la Jara.

We arrived fairly early at 12:30 PM and fortunately for our tired feet, the albergue was in the first block or two of the town. We checked in, early enough that our backpacks had not yet arrived, so we headed out for what turned out to be a very good lunch.

Another good day on the Via de la Plata. My foot is healing well, feeling better every day. Tomorrow is another relatively short day at about 20 kilometers. Unfortunately for me, it will be very cool again (I prefer slighty warmer temperatures).

Next: El Real de la Jara to Monesterio 20 kilometers