Day 4 and 5, Lorca and Joel's first blister!

Leaving Pamplona Joel's walk took him Puenta la Reina. This was 24.2k.  This was a hilly walk and I read that the climb up the Alto del Perdon leaves the Atlantic Basin behind and the scenery changes after the decent to mostly crop fields.  At the top there are various status of pilgrims from the past.  The route from the top is dangerous underfoot.  The decent is steep, uneven, and is composed of loose gravel and stones.  It's reported that walkers often hurt themselves on downhill’s like this than anywhere else. This may be where the muscles in Joel's right quad got pulled. Also, the first of a possible many blisters appeared. This is not uncommon for the pilgrims. Here is the diagram from this portion of the hike and following is one of the rivers in this area on one side of the Camino and an olive orchard on the other side.

 

After sleeping at Puenta la Reina Joel's next trek was to Lorca. He had planned to walk further, but plans change.  Instead, the village looked interesting and decided to take a 1/2 day off.

                                                           Alberque in Lorca

 

                     This group is the ones Joel walked with for the first few days. Fun loving group!

When I talked with him yesterday, I had asked what his breakfast's were like and he said they consisted of toast, coffee and juice. So this morning he had a croissant and two donut peaches plus coffee that would help make his hair grow! They are 9 hours ahead of us. He wakes up about 8:30 our time in the evening and it will be Tuesday. This is the day he's taking off, get some rest, do a little sight seeing and attempt to get the international SIM card.  So, while we're sleeping he's awake and vice versa.

Here is a portion of an email I got this morning of his walk today.
"I am at the village called de Lorca. I decided to take a half day off. Just after I checked in Lisa who I last saw in Zumbiri checked in. She is a nun from Portland. She is walking in civilian clothes. I walked with a nurse from Annapolis. She was missing her husband. Only married three years. She was walking as she had recently completed chemotherapy and they,couldn't get everything in the lymp nodes. She is 52 and her mother died of breast cancer at age 52. I just listened. At breakfast they asked if I wanted my sandwich small or grande? I chose grande. It was the size of a Subway foot long stuffed with ham and eggs and was to die for. That and coffee was 4.60! For my Albergue it was 7 for my bed, 2 for them to do my laundry, 2 for large cerveza, and 10 for tonight's meal and all wine I want." All these prices are in Euros.
Until tomorrow!  If you have any questions about this pilgrimage Joel is doing,  email me and we'll get an answer for you.