The archaeological site of Atapuerca has rich fossil remains from the earliest humans in Europe, nearly a million years ago. It’s designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but I’m on my way to the village of Atapuerca, which is about 4 km away from the site.

This 18,5 km walking day begins with a light drizzle and mist, and continues like this for much of the way. The path starts going steeply uphill as soon as I leave San Antón Abad and continues to climb upwards for a long time.

This is the only pilgrim I see occasionally, and the mist continues as we’re at 1000 meters now.

These unpopulated forests provided perfect cover for the notorious outlaws who roamed its slopes and ambushed medieval pilgrims, something I vividly can picture today…

At first the forest has a kind of eerie beauty, but the path is seemingly endless, and it’s a long, damp and lonely walk today.

Endless, endless, endless. Where are all the pilgrims today?

I arrive at San Juan de Ortega, a chapel and monastery founded in 1150, and funnily enough the somber mood continues here as well. The few I come across are subdued and there is a strange vibe here that I don’t feel comfortable with, so I have a quick coffee and sandwich and continue on my way.

Finally the landscape opens up and I feel like I can breathe again!

This stretch is beautiful and passes handsome old oaks.

It’s downhill now to Atapuerca, but first I have to pass the small village of Agés I see ahead.

An unusual gable of a house I pass in Agés.

Approaching Atapuerca the path becomes unreasonably narrow, with high grass well over my height brushing my face, so I resort to walk on the road into the town.

I’m staying at a new albergue called InPulso, that has a funny chimney on its roof. It turns out to be an excellent decision. The hostess Estella opened only last month, and as a pilgrim herself she knows exactly what a pilgrim needs.

A welcoming fire burns in the huge, old fireplace with cosy sofas around it.

This was formerly an old inn and there’s plenty of room for the large dining table in here.

I have a nice little single room and the brand new room with showers, wash basins, toilets, and laundry facilitates is charmingly designed, and sparkling clean. Estella takes care of my clothes that are soaked through and dirty, and after my nap in the afternoon I find them nicely folded in a basket outside my door, clean and sweet smelling!

I’ve been looking forward to dining at the Conosapiens restaurant next door, but as it turns out I’m glad it’s closed, because here Estella excels again by providing homemade dinner as well. It’s delicious and the portions are generous, just what a weary pilgrim needs!

I share a table with three other pilgrims, lovely Mariela and her husband from the USA and a French lady. It feels wonderful to end this rugged day with good food, nice company, in a warm and friendly environment.

Tomorrow is the last day and final destination of my camino this year, Burgos!

Check out my earlier posts to get the full context of this pilgrimage and the one I did the year before, and sign up to be notified when the next post is released. If you enjoyed this post, please give it some love by sharing and liking it!

All photos copyright Anita Martinez Beijer © All rights reserved