San Batholome de Pinares 5 October

I knew beforehand that today's walk would be the most difficult of this Camino and it was. It involved the most distance and steepest passages over the mountains.There were two halves- the first 16 km or 10 miles to Cerebros were uphill, but only about 600 feet of elevation gain, not too bad and it took me 3 hours at my normal walking pace.The first part of the second half (another 16 km or 10 miles) was the difficult one. Walking out of Cerebros, it was a 1300 foot elevation gain in just under the first two miles and it was all on a washed out gully of loose rocks that made finding footing very difficult. After reaching the pass, there was still another 1000 feet or so of elevation gain and loss(up and down, up and down) for pretty much the rest of the day's walk. The second part took me over 4 1/2 hours, so that elevation gain slowed me down considerably. It may have been wiser to split into two days walking, but I was inCerebros by 11 am and it was too soon to stop. 

I walked into San Bartholome de Pinares at 3:30 pm after a very steep descent into town. Needless to say, I was tired and found the hostal, where I could get a private room to relax in. (Other option was to try to find the munipal albergue in the Centro de Salud). The hostal even has mom and pop bar/restaurant below, where I was able to still get the midday meal. I figured I walked into town too late and might have to wait for the evening meal, which I find to not be such a good option since they usually do not start serving until 8 pm. After I post this, I'll find the local food store to stock up for tomorrow's walk. It will be my last day in the mountains, but shorter at 23 km and less elevation gain (one 4 km stretch with a 1000 foot elevation gain). I should sleep well tonight!

Just outside of San Martin de Valdeiglesias.

Walking into Cerebros. Those mountain behind it are the ones I walked over in the afternoon. 

In Cerebros 

The path out of Cerebros, in the washed out gully

Looking back on Cerebros partway up 

The pass. Note the waymarks for various trails on the signpost. Very important to only follow the correct ones!

The view toward Cerebros from the pass.

A rare patch of shaded pines on the trail

The last part of the days walk was through these pasturelands. Lots of up and down 

A lot of work went into building those stone walls

Starting the descent into San Bartholome de Pinares

And a final, very very steep descent into town.

Another view of the descent. Lots of granite boulders.