Day 14 – Belorado to San Juan de Ortega – 24.5km

Day 14 elevation profile

A long walk ahead today, beginning with a cold walk out of Belorado. Rain spoils the morning but it is short lived. A breakfast stop at Villafranca after about 12km, of good old fashioned bacon and eggs, energises us for the long haul onto San Juan. The rise out of Villafranca gets our hearts pumping again, and there are no rest stops before San Juan.

I meet another principal from a small school in Queensland and we chat for a few kilometres about our schools, before my pace proves to slow for him and he wishes me “Buen Camino” and sets on his way.

We begin a long walk through a pine forest and whilst the road is easy, it seems to go on forever. The forest seems to close in as the walk goes on and for the first time the walk seems a little uninteresting.

Entering the forest of no return.

One thing that is not too far from my mind is the 15km mark. It is like turning on the TV at 7:30 on a Saturday night for the Hey, Hey, It’s Saturday show. Sure enough the “Dickie Knee” turns up and it is fun and games for the next hour or so. It is hard to push on but we make it into San Juan de Ortega, which is hardly what we expect – 1 hotel, 1 church, 1 hostel and 1 bar/restaurant, not much else – a population of 20. It is very difficult to communicate and it is a cash only village – Visa is frowned upon.

We settle in and and go to the Pilgrims Mass and Blessing. All pilgrims are presented with a small wooden cross, as a gift from the parish. Pilgrims are held in high regard in San Juan, and all along the Camino.

Inside the church in San Jaun de Ortega – an impressive chapel for such a small place.