Day 5: Colinas de Arriba to A Mesa, 28.72 km, 17.8 miles

Don’t fret, there were no medical emergencies today, just a walk along a mountain route called Los Hospitales (translated to English, the hospitals). Back in the day, the kings established “hospitals” to care for weary pilgrims…medical care was probably limited to a warm fire, a place to rest, and some broth – similar to my own modern-day medical plan. There are 2 of these ancient hospitals in these mountains. They don’t look like much today, but in foul weather 500 years ago it would have been a welcome sight!

The Hospitales route over the mountains is no more difficult than the walk over the Pyrenees on Day 1 of the Camino Francés (if you’ve conquered that), but it is long, steep (up and down), with no resources (food or water), and has great potential for foul weather. Not so for us today, it was beautiful!! Take a look: