Camino de Santiago, 5-35 Days, 113-780km.

The Camino de Santiago or Way of St James is a journey of the soul along an ancient pilgrimage route from the Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela. Walk the whole way or just a week or two, you will never forget it!

The best time for ramblers is June, July, August, September and early October for the simple reason the the woodland tracks are officially closed to motor vehicles from June 1st until October 15th. I say "officially" because that is no guarantee that some goon won't be flying along in a 4x4 scaring off the wildlife and covering you with dirt. To start your walk amidst the indigenous trees such as Aleppo pine,  evergreen oaks, olive and carob, park up at Point 00 and walk up the hill past the no entry sign (see photo right).

On your left you will see some curious artifacts that look like the remains of concrete buildings. Some locals say these are Neolithic and some Roman (see photo left).

Others claim they are natural outcrops, yet they are quite different in appearance from the natural outcrops found at higher altitudes (see photo right). If you know anything about this I would love to hear from you. 

At Point 05 there is an intriguing path off to he left which I encourage you to take. It leads up to Fuente Acebuche (Acebuche Fountain) where you can empty out all that horrid water you bought at the petrol station and replace it with delicious, sweet mountain water. The path then bends round sharply to the right and leads up the the Casa Forestal (Forest House). At 570 meters this is the highest point of the hike. Just follow the track back down until it rejoins the main path. From here on the track levels off and, as we proceed towards the next point, the trees clear offing really magnificent views. 

At Point 07 the track splits into three where we take the right hand path. We start to descend down a scree slope. Its still a recognisable path but there are a lot of loose stones underfoot so take care. 

At Point 08 we come to a board T-junction where we turn right. There is a sign here saying "Circuito MTB José Briales el Pantera" which is a mountain biking route.  From here its just a case of following the path back to Point 01 where we turn left and return to ours cars.

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