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Belorado → Atapuerca 29.2 km (18.1 mi) |
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Uk uk ugka, everyone!
That’s a phonetically transcribed greeting in ancient Homo antecessor! I think. I’ll detail that later, but for now, I just have to say what a tremendous difference a day of rest can make! I feel like I could stroll right through Santiago and keep walking across the Atlantic! However, since I don’t have any styrofoam shoes, I think I’ll stick to Atapuerca for now.
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To get there, I first had to bypass the quaint Monasterio de San Félix de Oca. This monastery is a mystery to me! It was probably larger when it was functioning between the sixth and ninth centuries, but I could not figure out why this structure stood alone. If it were a gateway to another area, the walls on the back would have collapsed, but this barred chamber was completely self-contained! All I’ve been able to learn is that it possesses a Preromanic, Visigothic style, served as a refuge for peregrinos, and became the burial site of the first count of Castilla, Diego Porcelos. That still doesn’t answer my questions, though. Maybe the monks were just really, really small!
I took a quick break in Villafranca Montes de Oca (Mountains of the Goose!) before tackling the mountains after which the town was named. Apparently these hills are full of caves, like the Cueva de Fuentemolinos, which I would have loved to explore if I had more time!
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I appreciated every step of the next 12K. The mossy woodlands were wonderfully different from the farmland behind and the Meseta ahead. As the path rose from oak woods to taiga-like terrain, I ran into Andrew, and his discourse on the sorry state of the American education system really helped pass the time! The Camino gradually widened into a dirt expressway that passed a monument to 300 people who were murdered by Franco’s regime between 1936 and 1939 because of their political beliefs. Here, I had to pause and take off my hat out of respect.
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We met up with Jean for lunch in San Juan de Ortega, where Santo Domingo’s disciple, having returned from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, set to work building a refuge for peregrinos in the middle of these dangerous woods. These woods are pretty tame today, but they were once full of bandits and wolves! The former have since moved on to better enterprises, but the latter were virtually exterminated! Though Spain is one of the last refuges of the European wolf, the latest census showed less than 200 wolves in the entire province of Burgos!
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I joined Jean for the last march into Atapuerca, and we discussed what might come after the Camino, the real Next Steps. As with any student facing graduation, his main concerns revolve around the upcoming adult world: finding a job, finding a spouse, and those sorts of grown-up things. I hadn’t really thought of what comes after the Camino. As a beaver, I don’t have the same expectations placed on me as humans, but I, too, am searching. I think, though, that the Camino doesn’t usually give us solutions, only the strength and confidence to find them ourselves. I’m counting on that!
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After a long, flat stretch from Agés, the sign for Atapuerca rose just ahead. Now here was a huge surprise: it’s on the UNESCO World Heritage List! Apparently, this site produced the oldest hominid remains in all of Europe, over 800,000 years old! That put human ancestors in Europe half a million years earlier than previously believed! I thought that’s a long time for people to advance to their current level of sophistication! Then two bikers blazed past, and one threw his Pepsi can into the ditch on the side of the road. Maybe 800,000 years isn’t long enough! I picked up the can to give it back to the biker if he stopped for a break in Atapuerca, but sadly, he did not.
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Nonetheless, I was very excited to visit the Parque Arqueológico, but when we checked in at the Albergue Atapuerca, a lovely complex in shades of yellow, the hospitalera told me the park would not open again until April! What bad timing!
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Luckily, she also told me that all the specimens had been moved to a museum in Burgos, which was open all year! Well then, that’s on tomorrow’s agenda for sure! I took a quick dip in the albergue’s pond (a nice touch!) then joined my fellow peregrinos in the hunt for food. We went from one end of Atapuerca to the next, directed by numerous locals who assured us that at least one restaurant was open, but all were closed until April too. Unlike ancient hominids, we couldn’t gather for dinner at the lagunas, mostly because they were fenced off.
That left a choice: share the two-day old tapas at the one open bar in town or sneak into the laguna after all and munch on some old, dead wood. The choice was tough, but the company was better and less likely to get seized by animal control at the bar. I just hope we don’t all get sick tomorrow for Burgos!
Buen Camino!
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Total Distance Walked: 266.9 km (159.5 mi) |
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