Stage 13 : Villafranca to Atapuerca

Lazy start to a great morning.  The hotel in Viafranca was so comfortable and the breakfast was great. We started walking at around 8:30.  It looked like rain but we lucked out.  

I forgot to mention yesterday I had a great chat as I walked with a guy from Vancouver.  He does something with salmon.  Basically they tag me and then a few years later see how many come back.  They estimate the population.  He also talked about the climate affecting predators of he salmon and causing issues.

Right as you leave it takes you up into the hills.  The day was a combination of wild oak forest or a planted pine forest.  The pines with the breeze really smelled fresh.  Some areas reminded Quinn of northern Arizona.

Some of the pline areas were a dead forest.  They planted the trees too close so nothing pretty about it.

The first town we walk thru is San Juan de Ortega.  Very nice looking church and plaza area.  Inside the church was a dedication made by a family.  Very fancy.  On the outside there were face carvings that caught my attention.  Right along side shells and other ornate objects, the faces seemed out of place.

Two more towns and that's it for the day.  Only about 18km but 500 meters of up hill.  Didn't seem as bad as in the past so the legs must be getting stronger.

The butterfly's were loving this purple flower.

As you leave the forested area you get one last tree.  

The rolling hills into the villages are always a nice treat.

Quinn's feet were starting to hurt so stopped early today.  Next place isn't for 6 or 11 km.  While sitting here two little old ladies from Germany I think had to continue on because the place was full.  There were also some college age kids from Korea who live in England and some Americans that were planning dinner.  

Joe was able to find a tour of an archeological area near Atapuerca.  The site was a pass created thru solid rock by a railroad moving minerals into Burgos.  What they found around 1994 was that there were remains of caves visible in the pass.  These caves had filled with dirt over time.  You can see the layer in the second picture.  As they escalated the caves they found animals and humans.  Some from a half million years ago.  Including tools used to hunt or cut with.  We saw three different caves. One seemed to likely have been used as a grave. Another cave they actually found a body part they believe dates to 900,000 years ago. She showed us differences in a few skulls.  We saw differences in the teeth, nose, cranium and even the fact older homosapias didn't have a chin.  Kinda cool stuff.  They escalate every July and research and document what they find the rest of the year.

Tomorrow we head into Burgos, about 19 km.