Life's a Stitch

I can do this! That's how I felt at the end of today.

I was so worried about today's stretch. Our five hour trek wasn't going to cover a lot of ground, but the ascent was 350 meters (almost 1200 ft) over a short distance. The way up was tough but I took it slow and steadily. It helped to adjust my hat so I could only see four steps at a time then I could concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other without thinking about how steep it was. And there we were on Alto de Perdon, feeling on top of the world.

Looking into the distance one way we could see the mountains from where we started. Facing the other, there were the mountains to come. We thought about the settlers coming across the plains and spying a mountain range in front of them. The heck with that, they said, we're not going over those, and that's how we imagined that cities like Denver were established.

You know what they say about what goes up. Going down was a bear. The same 350 meters in reverse, described as ankle breaking, steep and covered in loose rocks in a variety of sizes. Each step required concentration and strategy as to placement. Chuck says his strategy of a couple of beers at the peak worked for him.

We've arrived safely at the alburgue in Uterga.

Plans for tomorrow included a detour to visit to a renowned 12th century church, however it's closed on Mondays so we'll head straight ahead for 20K (12 miles).