Day 3 - Castilblanco de los Arroyos to Almadén de la Plata – 29km

The walk today was really split into two sections: a 15 km road section and then a 14 km walk through a natural park. Many pilgrims consider the road section boring and opt to take a taxi to the park entrance, leaving them with a shorter walk to Almadén de la Plata.

Last night, John and I shared a room with a Dutch couple, William and his wife. She had strained her ankle, so they arranged for the owner of the albergue to drive them to the park for 20 euros. They suggested that John and I join them and share the cost. I told them I’d think about it and let them know in the morning—but I was leaning towards walking.

We went to bed around 9 p.m., and I slept until about 1 a.m., when John got up for a toilet break. Then William followed him, so I figured I might as well go too and save waking them up later. After I got back to bed, I couldn’t fall asleep again. Eventually, John got up at 5 a.m. to get dressed. I decided I might as well get up too and join him for the walk. So that’s what we did—we set out around 5:30 a.m.

The road to the park was mostly quiet while we were walking, but any cars that passed were going quite fast. I used my torch to make sure drivers could see us. 

The sunrise around 7:30 was lovely, and with the two of us chatting, we reached the park in about three hours. We arrived just after William and his wife, who had passed us in the car about 10 minutes earlier.

Once we left the road behind, we entered the park, which thankfully had a wide, well-maintained track—no mud to deal with today! The park was full of olive and cork oak trees and grassy areas, though we didn’t see many animals. I did hear my first cuckoo of the year and noticed deer tracks in the mud.

At one point, we came across an overflowing stream that had flooded the path. We had to take off our shoes and socks to wade through it—I really didn’t want to get my shoes wet again! After that, I left John behind while he took a break and pressed on through the park. I caught up with William and his wife, who told me she was managing better with her ankle after taking some painkillers.

I pushed on and tackled the final steep climb out of the park just before the first shower of the day. From there, it was a straightforward descent into the small town that marked the end of the day’s walk. The municipal albergue was open but unstaffed. Another pilgrim told me to pick any bed and that we’d pay the manager when they arrived around 6 p.m.

The rain turned heavy after I arrived and continued on and off throughout the afternoon. Overall, it was a great day of walking—no mud, no sweat, no tears!