Sanguesa to Artieda, 32.5km.
I figured I would change it up a bit and add titles to the posts. Plus trying to come up with an appropriate heading gives me something else to contemplate as I pound out the klicks!
It was a long and tiring day mainly because the ideally located albergue – about 22 km from Sanguesa – was closed. The extra 10 km to Artieda was challenging for a day three!
After a great breakfast at the Yamaguchi Hotel in Sanguesa, it was initially a pleasant and uplifting route through rolling farmland. The uplifting was important as apart from breakfast, the Yamaguchi was clearly the least worse option in town. The water never got hot, and tepid is only marginally better than an ice bath.
The pleasantness of the path was offset by the wind. Today it was no longer behind me, but more of a beam reach. I tried several clothing options in turn before settling on a lightweight Arc’teryx wind breaker on top of the wool t-shirt and fleecy. My planning for this walk never contemplated hypothermia risk! A long ascent over what in places was solid rock was particularly exposed. But the view back was awesome!
A long descent through sheltering pine plantations led to the shedding of clothing layers. I did meet two Spanish pereginos going the other way (the normal way!) who were rugged up in long pants, fleecies, toques and gloves. Me in shorts and t-shirts must have been an interesting sight.
Ruesta and other villages suffered badly after the Yesa river was damned in 1960, flooding all the arable land that these villages relied on. Ruesta was essentially abandoned, despite historic buildings dating back to the 1060s. Artieda, where I’m staying tonight, also suffered, but not to the same degree.
After Ruesta the trail went from a beautiful, possibly ancient, path through the oak forests (little oaks, not the towering English variety.) Then the last five km were the aesthetic opposite – trudging along an old highway. It was adjacent to the new highway, on which there was zero traffic in the hour I trudged. The killer was the last 1.2 km (according to the sign) up a steep road to the village of Artieda. The welcome from the owners made up for the effort: despite arriving after the restaurant was closed for its ‘menu del dia’, they packaged up the three courses as takeout and delivered them to the albergue kitchen ( complete with a beer and a coffee. Luckily there was a microwave, as the beer consumption took top priority!) Probably the most welcoming albergue I’ve ever stayed in although it seems to suffer from the same absence of hot water affliction as the Yamaguchi! But the view from the patio is a bonus!
2saunter 