Allison Cowie

Castrojeriz to Población de Campos / 17.95 miles

Another pre-dawn start marked Day 13, this time with an immediate hill climb to leave Castrojeriz and enter the day’s section of the Meseta. The sun rose as I ascended the hill, painting the sky with pinks and purples and oranges as I reached the top. Sunrise has quickly become my favorite time of day.

It was a simple day — a lot of walking and not much else. I stopped for a Colacao and buttered toast at a bar in Itero de la Vega. (The albergue had fed us scrambled eggs, bacon and yogurt for breakfast, by far the best morning meal I’d had since starting the Camino, so I wasn’t hungry for more than a snack until lunchtime hit.) I walked for a bit with a Camino friend, a Dutchman named Julian, whom I’d met back in Pamplona. He was a bit too speedy for me, so after a mile or two we separated and I focused on my 22-min-or-more mile challenge. I pushed the pace about 30-60 seconds/mile too fast all day, which added up to leave me more tired than the day before.

A few miles from Frómista, the trail fell alongside the Canal de Castilla, which took almost 100 years to build between 1753-1849. The canal crosses Castile for over 200km to bring water across the plains. I was hoping there’d be a spot to sit and soak my feet in the cool water, but I settled for the bathtub in the hotel I stayed in that night. A long, skinny boat was taking a tour group up and down the canal as I walked into town. It was moving only barely faster than my slow pace, so I got to exchange multiple hellos with the people on board.

Most people were stopping for the day in Frómista, but I had a private room booked 3kms ahead. I couldn’t wait for lunch, though, and took a pizza break before continuing on for the final stretch. Those last 3kms were tough — walking alone in the heat of the day, I had to play a game guessing the distance between Camino signals to keep me moving forward. (Most were 0.1 miles apart, though every now and then the trail designers would throw in a rogue 0.25 mile stretch.)