Friday, 3 May 2024
Walking from Montemarta to Granja de Moreruela
23.3 kilometers

Our second day of walking on this pilgrimage was a little more challenging than we all expected. The distance, at 23 kilometers, was not particularly far, and the temperature being fairly cool prevented overheating. Sometimes when the wind came, I was downright cold. A year ago at this time while I was walking this route, the temperatures were easily 10-12 degrees Fahrenheit higher than today and the last few days. I attribute some of the difficulty to our not being fully in what one might call “Camino shape,” or in other words, not used to the long days of walking while carrying a backpack. We are deliberately taking this walk slowly to prevent or avoid injury or over-exertion. By the end of the walk today, all three of us were more than ready to stop walking.

The day started with a small breakfast at the Hostal Bajo la Muralla, our last time at this accommodation in Zamora. We had been there for three nights and they treated us well. At 8:30 the driver picked us up and took us to Montemarta to start our second day where we ended on the first day. Here is a photo of Dan and Ron at the church in Montemarta, ready to get going on our second day of walking.

Here is the route and also a composite shot from Samsung Health showing both the route and the elevation graph. Towards the end of the day, we were going uphill more than not.

The elevation graph suggests that the last few kilometers were downhill and easy, but by then we were very tired and the road seemed uphill most of the time.

We had to divert from the path on which I walked last year out of Montemarta. Last year, the lake was practically dry, and the Via de la Plata route goes across the lake. When the lake is full, as it was today, we must walk across the highway bridge to get back on the path. Just as we got to the bridge, I took a photo of the sign indicating the end of Montemarta. An interpretation of the sign might be “no more Montemarta.”

Walking across the bridge and looking at the lake, I am surprised that I walked across that lake last year while it was empty.

After Montemarta and the lake, the Camino route took us off the asphalt road onto more natural dirt roads with rocks and/or gravel. We mostly walked through vast farm fields. Sometimes we were near or by a major highway, but most of the whole day we were away from the highway in the quiet farms. Often the road just stretched as far as we could see.

As we got closer to the approximate halfway point, a small town of Fontanillas de Castro, we could see a large lake to the west.

Looking at Google Maps later, this is man-made, a reservoir behind a dam several miles south. This is a long reservoir, and we saw it a few more times as we walked up and down the smaller hills along the way. Often, there were rather beautiful wildflowers along the path. Here is a particularly nice scene with many bright blue flowers behind bushes with white flowers. Ron also took a photo of me with the blue flower behind me and the long road to my left in the photo.

After the halfway point, we passed some ruins on a hill in the distance. They appear to be old Roman ruins or possibly the remains of an old monastery – difficult to tell, and we had little interest in diverting our attention from our walk to investigate.

After almost five hours of walking today, we came to what might be the last hill. Here are Ron and Dan ahead of me starting up that hill.

After that hill, we were on a very long, flat, and straight stretch of road taking us into Granja de Moreruela. The first bar/cafe we found had stopped serving lunch at 3:00 PM, five minutes before we arrived, and would not make an exception. We met an Australian couple yesterday and they were eating there. We saw them and they told us they arrived five minutes before 3 and had to practically plead with the server to feed them. They also told us there was one or two more bar/cafes a short distance up the main road.

We headed up the road. The first cafe was closed, but the second was open, and were very happy to serve us. We had an outstanding meal – no menu, just the meal of the day. Bean and rice soup to start, a large bowl of salad to share, and a platter of meat to share. More than enough food for us even though we were very hungry. Included were a bottle of wine, a large (1.5 liter) bottle of water, a Coke for me, and ice cream bars for dessert.

We were to call the proprietor of our accommodation, so we were leaving to go there to make the call. A local started asking us where we were from and where we were staying. When we told him we were staying at Casa del Tío Quico, the lady sitting there said she was the proprietor. So we walked down to the casa rural (similar to a bread & breakfast) with her and she showed us our rooms and the layout. There was a washer for 2 Euros, so after showers, we put our clothes in the washer for proper washing. The hope is that everything will be dry by tomorrow.

Less than a block away from the casa rural in which we are staying is the Camino split point. The Via de la Plata continues north from Granja de Moreruela to Astorga. From there, pilgrims can follow the Camino Frances to Santiago de Compostela. The Camino Sanabres turns northwest from Granja de Moreruela and continues approximately northwest through Ourense to Santiago de Compostela.

A long and tiring day. We are expecting or maybe hoping to get into better walking shape and develop a rhythm as the days pass. A few longer days are ahead.

Next: Day 3 – Granja de Moreruela to Tabera