Yesterday’s walk was long and it was hot.  Today’s was longer but less hot.  We are comparing 97 degrees to 90…towards the end, not the whole thing!!  A major section near the beginning this morning was utterly spectacular.  Fortunately there were metal cords to hold onto where the ledge was narrow and metal steps with metal handles fitted into the rocks where there was no ledge.

Do you think that tree is in the way:

Yes, one really does have to go through that tunnel.  The flashlight app on the phone worked perfectly:

When I got to the end point, Tierratona, the panaderia was closed.  So much for that.  But I have discovered that at any bar you can ask for a bocadillo with cheese to go, and there you are with bread and cheese in a sandwich the size of a subway.  It can be part of your dinner, breakfast, or mid, morning pick me up on the road the next day.  At the bar in Tierratona, I was cursing myself for having been so stupid as to make a reservation at a place another half hour walk up a hill rather than staying in a room over the bar.  But when I got to Mur de Alujan, I was not sorry any longer.  The house is a castle or at the very least in the style of a castle, built in the 15th century by the family Perez, and has been inhabited by a member of that family ever since.  The stairs could scare you to death.  They are those little windy type that castles have, and I am on the third floor.  The owners have added to the original structure:  electricity, toilets, etc., but have preserved most of the original wood and stonework and such. Anyway, staying here is one of those once in a life time experiences.

I asked Rafael, the guy, if I could buy some fruit from him.  He said, “Sí.”  Then he came back and asked if I would like a salad and a beef steak!  (They do not serve food here.)  I declined the steak but accepted the salad and asked for two eggs in lieu of the steak.  So there I was, on this little terrace, the eaves of which were lined with birds nests, overlooking a courtyard, eating a lovely little lunch.

A window:

Walk up 45 of these steps to get to my room:

Not your everyday sort of landscape:

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I never knew 13.5 miles could be so tough, even Wikiloc, the site for all walks, classifies the stretch from Arguis to Nocito as difficult.  To be sure, the scenery was impressive, spectacular, in fact, but at the end you felt as if you had walked 20 miles.  What a relief to arrive at a pleasant Casa Rural at the end.

This is not the place I am staying:

It is the Rio Flumen!!

Mother Nature asserts herself everywhere:

Mountains everywhere, including the ones you are climbing. This shot was taken from pretty high up, well, high enough for me:

See what I am saying?

That is so sweet:

Gorgeous walk today, tough, but gorgeous. There were thunder storms last night and more predicted, so I was concerned when I left at 5:45 and heard the (last) faint rumbles.  Last night I looked up, “What to do when you are out in the middle of nowhere in a thunder storm (or some variant of that question)?  All the answers said, “Get into a car.” If all else fails, and all else definitely would have failed, they show you this miserable crouching position to assume.  People of certain persuasions would have just as much luck praying.

I was going to do one of those get-picked-up-go-to-nest-day’s-accommodation-be-returned-in-the-morning routines because there is shopping at then next destination and it is nicer.  However, in a moment of great clarity, I decided to stay at the hostal in Arguis because getting started the next day would be much easier.  And now that I am in Arguis, I can say, that that is definitely true.  I would have spent a half hour trying to find the path that runs behind the cement works when I would need that time to get ahead of the heat.  Anyway, now I will tell you about the Hostal.

It is cheap:  $28.00.  That it is more basic than basic is not the problem.  The problem is that it is run by the nastiest, rudest young women. (Maybe they are friends with that woman back in Prioro.) “Here is the key, this is the code, goodbye.”  Wi-fi password wasn’t being accepted.  They did not care, but I did.  Turns out that I am the only person staying here and the wi fi equipment, which looks like it s from the ’80s is just opposite my room in a little “office” area.  So, Alex, I unplugged the router and plugged it back in again.  Then there was another thing, probably a modem (so I don’t know the difference between the router and the modem).  To this device I took a paper clip and stuck it in the little hole to restart it (I assume), and guess what?  I got it to work. I keep losing the connection, but if I put the computer within two feet of the blinking lights, I get it back again.

Clouds misting away:

The hills are covered with yellow flowering gorse:

A silent pine forest

Thought this was the remains of old lead mines, but it is a certain kind of rock peculiar to Aragón

Last night I had company in the B and B, a very personable Italian man, Luca, a science teacher, who was walking a different walk in a different direction.  He was one of those guys who carries everything in his back pack, which was not all that big, and, who, when the dueña tells him that there is a restaurant at the beginning of the town, is perfectly pleased with that vague instruction, but to which I would have answered, “What are you talking about?”  Also, he was the kind of guy, who, when he cannot get a place to stay—because he did not make reservations back in November or December or even last week—walks an extra nine miles—if he is lucky and it is only nine miles—  to the next town despite the fact that he has already walked a goodly amount and it is 90+ degrees.  Oh, and he is the kind of guy who only uses a little guide book for navigation and maybe a map, no GPS for him.  He also speaks Spanish (really well), English (pretty well), and French (I don’t know how well). In other words, he is the kind of guy who is capable of this sort of adventure, while I am so wanting.

Today’s walk was short even though I went off the designated path about three times. It was humid, which is the worst, so I was happy to arrive at my destination at about 10:30.  Let’s call it a rest day.  I am staying in a room over a bar where men talk,  drink, and play cards all day, so it is kind of noisy.  But I have a lot of space and light, even if no amenities, e.g., no window in the bedroom, but there is a “sitting room,” the wifi is reliable and there is a fan.

Bolea has a shop.  On Monday it is open only until 1:00, so it is a good thing I did not take that optional excursion to an ermita an hour and a half away, up a hill. About three people can fit inside the shop at once.  There was a modest selection of fruit and vegetables and a tiny refrigerator section mostly filled with yogurts.  But amid the packaged ham, guess what there was?  A vacuum packed roast chicken!!  I bought it!  Then, would you believe, in the bar, they sell locally made cherry jam. so I bought a jar of that, too!  (I transferred about half into a series of plastic baggies, and hope it will stay contained.

Leaving Loarre:

The non-metaphorical silver lining!

Choo-choo near dramatic rocks not passing by at the moment:

Other dramatic rock in the sun:

5:45 a.m. pick up by taxi only it was later because taxi and I were not waiting in the same spot.  But anyway, it was a good thing there was a place to start some 7 km from Biel because it became very hot and there was a section in the mountains where finding the way was extremely time consuming.  I was VERY CAREFUL.  At every “where the heck do I go from here” stage, I made sure to NOT GO far if I did not see a waymarker where I thought there should be one. I just went back to the previous one (although finding it was not so easy, since the markings were on stones half buried in tall grass and there was no path), but bit by bit, I got to the “ruined farmhouses” which I had been looking for as a beacon, but since they were ruined right down to the ground, you could not see them until you were right on top of them, at which point you say, “Oh, they do exist.”  Actually, I find this no path, and I mean none, in mountainous areas most disconcerting.

Yesterday was the day of the cow.  Today was the day of the view.

Rocks with trees:

Pointy rocks without trees:

Dramatic rocks:

Ten commandment rocks?

View from my window, which looks like Ayers Rock even though I have never seen Ayers Rock:

A stream, which, at some times of the year you have to take off your shoes to cross, but not now:

OK enough prettiness.  Today there was the dog incident.  Two dogs, unchained, were barking madly as dogs here do, but were not really bothering me until one of them decided to go after me.  “Grrrrrrrr” he said, which is both Spanish and English for this is not good and I felt his teeth snap at my leg.  I turned around and yelled at him (in English) and waved my poles madly.  Guess who was alpha then?!

And in case you miss cows, here are two, sad for having been left out yesterday:

The circular walk I was going to do informed that you had to go to “a parking” two miles north of Biel to get started.  I could not find said road on a map, so I decided to walk part of today’s walk in reverse and walk back to Biel, another round trip.  It was a pretty good walk, 14 miles and darn hot at the end, so it was especially nice that the very kind owner of the apartment (tonight’s lodging), drove by—I think he was looking for me—and gave me a ride as I was trying to figure out how to get here.  But back to the  walk and more about Alvero later.

First there was one cow:

Now, you see that black one?  She was trying to mate with the brown one (not the red one), but it did not work out for either one of them:

A nice walk, only about 9 miles. The only navigational problem was getting to the place where the path started.  Yes, I did figure it out yesterday, but it is over half a mile from hotel through a maze of streets that all look the same.  After that slight challenge, the waymarking was E for excellent.  I mean there were really red a white stripes on poles or trees or stones and, though overgrown, there really was a path.  It was hot but not unbearable, but this was with an arrival time of 10:15 a.m.!

Sos del Rey, actually a view from yesterday’s walk.  This clustering of houses on a hill seems to be the standard shape and arrangement of towns in these parts:

Casita:

Group of horses; one horse eating, three not, at the moment:

Horse absenting self from the group:

The store is known as Simply, pronounce that Seem-ply, and the sign does not lie.  It has a tiny produce section, but don’t touch anything!!  You will point to your selection and the señora will choose it, and weigh it, y ya!

Had I stayed in Petilla de Aragón, today’s destination, I would have been able to walk the next stage to Biel since, being right there, I would have been able to start out before 6:00.  However, since it will be in the 90’s, and the walk has no escape route AND it has lots of climbing, and I could not arrive at the start point until after 6:30, and the walk is seven hours+ change (I usually beat the time predictions by at least an hour, but even so), I decided not to do it.  I spent hours on the computer and with my phone trying to see if the taxi could take me to a point further along, but there is no road that goes near it.  So, I will go to Biel, the end point, and do a circular walk.  I feel quite bad about all these stages not walked, and doubtless there will be others.  Oh, and wouldn’t you know I lost my list of mileage. It disappeared from Notes; vanished.  I think there is a message there.