Day 3 Moclin - Alcalá la Real

 


23 km.  Total walking time 5:46 h, not counting the pauses

Total time 8.5 hrs.    Average speed 4 km/h

445 m up and 525 m down

This turned out to be a particularly strenuous day. We had a cool morning, starting our walk under a thick layer of cloud. Steeply down for ages on a chalky track right at the beginning. Some walking along a not very busy country road and on to a very busy Nacional 432 which we followed for quite a while and later in the day again. It is the Granada-Cordoba route, so we are likely to come across it again.

We advanced beautifully through and alongside olive groves (remember day 2?), had some long pauses, once as we came over the top somewhere after a long way up and once in front of the little chapel Ermita de San Isidoro de Larbador (no, not Labrador!) in a village called Nueva Ermita. There were two inviting benches and we akcepted the invitation. There, after a while, we were joined by the German pilgrim, Ilka, whom we had met last night. We took off leaving her behind - she prefers walking alone so she can stop when she feels like it.  Later the sun started to pierce the clouds and it became extremely hot, as promised by the weather forecast and out came my umbrella and I felt better.

However to avoid my foot problems we had made lots of little pauses. And several long ones happened to be very long. And in the end we had to stop more and more often because I was beginning to feel tired and the foot was beginning to make itself felt. So when we reached Alcalá and still had to walk for some time inside the town to reach our hotel I was so tired and Andrea, to keep me distracted, was nattering away with information about Alcalá; I was thinking “I do not care about Alcalá - I just want to arrive!” Which we did and I slept for an hour immediately! 

So here I am, restored. And we have been discussing what we should have done differently today: We should have made shorter pauses, especially the long ones, to get as far as possible during the freshness of the morning - I used to think, what does it matter - if you have a hotel booking you can arrive late. Yes, but not during the heatwave we are having now.

So there, out to eat. Photos tomorrow. Today I have to deal with yesterday’s photos. I have not learned yet to handle photos easily.....






Comments

  1. Ray and Sue6 September 2021 at 12:59

    We are very impressed by your determination and courage to walk so far in such heat. It will be another great achievement when you complete it. Hope for a cooler day tomorrow!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ina7 September 2021 at 09:36

      Thank you for your concern. The heat is a real problem. You should see me flagging at the end of the day! “Are we very nearly there, Mummy?”

      Delete
    2. Ina7 September 2021 at 09:36

      Thank you for your concern. The heat is a real problem. You should see me flagging at the end of the day! “Are we very nearly there, Mummy?”

      Delete
    3. ros7 September 2021 at 11:55

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete

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