12th Day / Belorado - Atapuerca

As always the way is difficult but joyful at the sametime. we walked 30.4 km yesterday and when we arrived in atapuerca we discovered there was only one computer and a line to use it, we passed. we were so very exhausted arriving in Atapuerca about 3 pm that i really didn´t care to do anything. our friend Andrea was worried for us (he is Swiss)and said we should go farther than where most everyone was stopping for the night (san juan de ortega). we heard along the road that morning that the only meal you would get would be at the church with the priest (garlic soup)and that didn´t intice most people, following with some complaints. thanks to our friend we did walk past this town. let me back up a bit. when starting out at 6:05 am from Belorado our morning was easy, walking in fog drifting in out of the hills. it was a blissful and enjoyable meandering walk. then, 12 km into our walk we stopped at a bar for something to drink. then immediately leaving Villafranca Montes de Oca we started a very hard climb, it went on and on and on and didn´t stop for at least another 9-12 km! we were in shock, thinking this has got to end soon; no it did not. as we walked on we were in the forest with ferns, bugs only in one spot that sounded like the cicada bugs in arizona. this area reminded me of the times marc & i and friends had gone into the forests of idaho to gather boughs for our wreath making party every year the first weekend in december. continuing with our story: on my map there was a solo picture of a church, when i caught sight of that church i could not believe it because that meant we had another 6.4 km. nicole was so excited, very excited but at the very moment i said it´s the church my own heart sank, poor nicole said in a moment she went from being very happy to depressed all in an instant and she said i was the cause of this. at this same moment she remembered someone saying that in san juan de ortega there was a church with 3 small buildings and yes, there was a church and 3 small buildings! we discussed this and became so delirious you would not have believed it was the same people you know us to be. we must have goofed off, laughing so hard we would trip ourselves and then all of a sudden imagine having to go pee and to find a bush as fast as you can. yes, more laughing indeed. when getting to san juan we discovered a church that was vacant except for a few statues and a coffin and a dark stairway leading down into a very dark we didn´t know what. indiana jones and tomb raiders here we come! i got out my little light but it wasn´t bright enough then nicole remembered we had head lamps, yeah perfect! i ran up the steps to get my lamp and go back downstairs. it was so cool, there was what we thought to be the tomb of san juan de ortega, a large coffin on the floor and a large cross above it on the wall and nothing else. we had to turn off the flash on our cameras because the reflection was too bright. so i took a picture of nicole on the stairs on our way back up....have any of you seen the Blair Witch Project? that´s what the pictures turned out like it was very cool. yes, i know this was a religious place of rest for san juan but i like to think he was looking upon our kind spirits and knowing that we were honoring him but also on an adventure of our own. Life Is Good. after leaving the church we got something to drink at the bar i did not think would be available and left town and all the pilgrims behind us. wooooo hooooo here we go again! we arrived weary and wanting to get off our feet, they hurt so much i could not tell you we could barely walk. what a day, but i´d do it again, maybe not tomorrow but, soon. until the 13th day.....LIFE IS GOOD - AriZona