We got our earliest start yet, about 6:20, just before sunrise. We wanted the early start because we had a little further to go today and the terrain is quite a bit more challenging. The first half of our walk was through beautiful rolling farmland and forest. We stopped at Villafranca de Montes de Oca to pick up bocadillos (sandwiches) and refill our water bottles before starting the steep climb up 200 meters in elevation to Alto Mojapán, then 100 meters down past the Monumento de los Caídos, and back up 100 meters to Alto Pedraja before starting a gentle 100 meter descent to San Juan de Ortega. Our day started very cool, then even colder and breezy at the higher elevations. Then it started raining as we reached Alto Pedraja. The albergue at San Juan de Ortega was a welcome sight with the hope to get warm and dry. The San Juan church is one of the oldest we have seen so far. We had a great pilgrim mass followed by a communal pilgrim meal at the albergue that included the famous garlic soup that has been served here for many years.
Day #11
San Juan de Ortega
Population 20 / Elevation 950 meters
Albergue San Juan
Distance walked today 24.2 km.
Weather very chilly and cloudy early, cold with steady light rain starting before noon.