Camino Day Thirteen- San Juan de Ortega to Burgos (16.3 Miles)

We awoke in San Juan de Ortega to heavy rain. Breakfast was a bag lunch type so we threw it into our packs, put our raingear on, and headed out to the Camino at 7:40. Our raingear is comprised of raincoat, rain pants, and pack covers. It felt great to be hiking in the rain, true Pacific Northwest Ducks.

We traveled through a very cute, perfectly clean small town, across another Roman Bridge, and travelled through another town called Atapuerca which is famous for archeological finds of the oldest human remains found to date in Europe, over 800,000 years old. It truly felt amazing walking in these mountains inhabited by our humanoid ancestors, their remains saved in the caves for all these centuries.

After our 10:00 snack in Atapuerca, consisting of Café Americano for John, Café con Leche for Chris, and two Tortillas (egg potato quiche). We climbed 2,400 feet up to the top of the Altapuerca Mountains. The climb was extremely rocky but we took it slow and so enjoyed the climb. Unbelievably, our bodies have already adjusted to this extreme physical demand.

It was somewhat exciting, but also disheartening when we got to the ridge of these mountains and we were rewarded with a view of our goal, Burgos…….ten miles away! But 4 1/2 hours later we arrived at our hotel in the heart of the old town part of Burgos. We powerwalked into Burgos (means we didn’t stop for lunch), and eat out breakfast bag lunch in the room while we showered and got organized.

After resting we walked Burgos. We spent over an hour and a half touring the Burgos Cathedral, the third largest Cathedral in Spain. Simply amazing but felt far more like walking a museum than a House of Worship. The ceilings in this Cathedral were out of this world and the stained glass was works of art. After the Cathedral, we walked the Rio Arlanzon river park, watched a concert in the square by the Spanish singer Rozalen, and ate Tapas in a bar.

Now can we go to bed and wait till for the Seahawks to play the Saints at 10:00 PM and the Mariners to play the Astros at 1:20 AM.

Go Hawks and Go Mariners!