June 11th
When we wake up this morning, rain is pouring down heavily. We open the curtains and the window, hearing thunder roll through the mountains. The peaks are shrouded in thick clouds, and the rest is barely visible due to the rain. This morning was supposed to be relatively dry, but unfortunately, we find that the weather in the mountainous landscape we've entered is much more unpredictable than on the plains. The hotel is located at the end of the 'gate' through the Obarenes Mountains, the 'Desfiladero de Pancorbo', between the plateau of Castile and the Ebro plain. It's one wide mountain ridge of about 30 kilometers, which we will be exiting today on our way to Miranda de Ebro. But before we depart, it would be nice if it could dry up a bit more than it is now. Luckily, today's stage is only 16 kilometers long, and fortunately, we don't have to check out of our room until 11 AM. So, we can take it slow. Around 10:30 AM, we finally prepare to leave, and the weather does start to cooperate.
It's still raining, but the birds are starting to sing again, and the sky is lightening up. We have to walk along the main road where the hotel is located. But a kilometer later, when we turn off onto a smaller road, it becomes progressively drier and the mountains become more visible. The clouds midway up the slopes also look quite beautiful again. We follow the small road along the river, which is clearly much higher than usual, with brown water churning past the plants and trees. The river valley opens up and widens as we move further from the gorge, and the landscape becomes greener. Rain is far less unusual here than on previous stretches. Near the village of Ameyugo, we cross the highway and quickly move away from it. The Santiago route continues to follow the highway, and a GR route heads deep into the hills. We've chosen a path in between, at the foot of the slope, along meadows. The weather remains gray, but it has stopped raining. We walk past a small village and turn right across the Rio Oroncillo into the hills. Well, hills… it's actually one stray mountain on the north bank of the river before the Ebro plain. But it's still quite a climb, and it's a beautiful wooded area with occasional stunning views of the valley through the trees and bushes. It's around noon, and although we haven't even walked 10 kilometers yet, our stomachs seem to be on their own schedule, as we're starting to get quite hungry. We take a break on a nice spot and even the sun starts to peek through cautiously. It immediately becomes much more pleasant, and everything dries up in no time. Except for the paths, which remain a muddy mess. Especially on the downhill stretches, which are sometimes quite steep, we have to be careful not to slip. With a few slips, we still manage to reach the bottom of the slope with clean pants, but our shoes and legs are completely covered in mud. We hope to find a place to wash them off a bit. Here at the bottom of the slope, the terrain flattens out. We walk along a wide path to the village of Orón, and the last 4 kilometers are along a main road towards Miranda. We arrive quickly in the city where we're stopped by an elderly lady who wants to know exactly what we are doing. She listens intently as we explain that we are not heading towards Santiago, but towards the Pyrenees, and where we come from. She asks if we have a place to eat, as if she wants to invite us to do so at her place. Very kind. Even if we had wanted to, we still don't look presentable with all the mud on our shoes and legs. But it shows how hospitable people are here in Spain, even if you only speak the language with hands and feet. We walk through the old part of the city towards the Ebro. Another beautiful old bridge (we never had much interest in bridges, but walking through Spain and France gives you a real appreciation for these old structures…). We cross the Ebro, which is already quite wide here. We had expected it to be a smaller river since it still has a long way to flow to the Mediterranean Sea. The source is only about 50 kilometers from the north coast, but the river flows 930 kilometers through the interior to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, where it flows into a stunning delta. This makes it the longest river that flows solely through Spain.
We continue through the city center towards the station where our hotel is located. It’s Sunday, but the streets are very busy. Chicly dressed children play on the street and in the parks, and equally chic parents sit at the cafés. It appears to be communion Sunday, which is celebrated grandly here. This only heightens the contrast between us and the city. Unfortunately, we haven’t come across any stream to wash off our mud, and have only managed to scrape some mud off our shoes on a grassy area, so we're relieved to have booked a hotel with self-check-in and can go unnoticed to our room to freshen up. That feels much better! For the coming days, a lot of rain is forecasted, and we've decided to stay over for two days. We'll get to know the city a bit if it dries up in between. But these are the last rainy days in the forecast, so it looks good!
