Camino Day 20: Castrojeriz to Fromista

Date: April 20th, 2022

Distance: 25.3km/15.7miles

Time: 6 1/2 hours (8:00am-2:30pm)

Carlos, Chris, Nuno, and I left the dungeon around 8:00am. Another cold and windy day, but I was better prepared for it today. The silver lining to cold days is a light backpack. I wore almost all of my layers.

The day started with a steep incline right off the bat, and I was grateful for my Colorado upbringing on mountain trails. I had a strange burst of energy, and I ascended quickly and vigorously and then jogged down the hill (also something I like to do after a Colorado hike). I found the jogging was less painful on the knees than walking slowly.

I felt unstoppable this morning. I walked fast, cruising. The rythmic tapping of my poles like a mantra, breathing myself into equilibrium with everything around me. The cold, the green fields, the trail.

Oh how the mighty fell after lunch. Pain radiating from my right knee all the way down my shin to my toes. Achilles acting up. I felt my first blisters forming on the side of my shoes where the fabric had completely worn off. The mantra was now more like fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. I stopped regularly to stretch it out and then kept pushing through it as I listened to my Spanish duo lingo podcast.

Nuno and I walked the last couple kilometers together along the canal into Fromista. The sun came out, and it turned out to be a very pleasant afternoon.

We initiated our arrival ritual… several rounds of drinks and tapas at a local bar, laugher. This evening we also had the fun addition of foosball and ping pong.

It’s really nice to walk into your albergue at curfew (10:00pm) after a 14 Euro, 3 course pilgrim dinner, giggling at your drunk friend, whispering inside jokes to the crew, piling into our sleeping bags in bunk beds right next to each other, like a big Camino sleepover party.

I went to bed with a big smile on my face.