Miles for Makena

5 October Espinosa to Atapuerca

By October 7, 2025No Comments

Our typical day on the Camino has started, kinda like this;
Wake up-wash up-Pack up-Say goodbye-On the road

once in a while, I get a cup of coffee in our lodging but more often than not we wait until our first stop to have a cup of coffee perhaps a snack and Brenda has her hot tea. We didn’t anticipate this morning to be any different.

There was no place in town to get a cup of coffee so we traveled on to the next small community where we found a hotel hidden in a cul-de-sac that had a cafeteria that was open to all.

as we walked in the cafeteria, Brenda was a little shocked and commented on the fact that we could very well be walking into a hunting lodge! The walls were full of big game trophies mounted as far as you can see in every direction! A little unnerving being watched by all those eyes but we got our morning lift and headed on our way.

As we followed the trail, like most days, we saw local monuments and memorials, but today the ones we found stood out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

sometimes on the trail, the pilgrims, get creative and desire to send a message to those who follow behind.  Often this is in the form of giving direction such as you see below!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and today we ran into a new sign that we haven’t seen before and many many trucks with  hunting dog cages, and men with shotguns!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

then we heard the loud voices of men, the dogs barking wildly, and finally the sound of shotguns! This is when we found out that we were actually sharing the trail with wild boar on the prowl!!

at Brenda‘s insistence, and my immediate agreement 🙂 we picked up the pace substantially and moved on past the scene of the hunt.

ATAPUERCA

As we arrived at town, where we would spend the evening, we were greeted by this sign referencing the areas designation as a UNESCO site. Along with the stone monuments, which we found extremely interesting. I had to translate the inscriptions with Google translate and we realized that the monuments were testimonies to citizens of the town who contributed in one form or another to the health and well-being of their fellow citizens

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and at the end of the day, we entered a marvelous paved patio, which let us in into one of the most beautiful albergue’s we’ve had the opportunity to visit and at which we were greeted by our wonderful host Estrella!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We honestly can’t say enough nice things about Estrella. She made us feel at home. She was pleasant in every communication and she fixed us a fabulous meal, gave us a comfortable room and was a gracious host in every possible way.

Buen Camino