Via de La Plata – Seville into Sierra Norte de Sevilla.
Returning to my first Camino
Paradise, between Castelblanco and Almaden.
Paradise re-visited.
For all the Caminos I have walked since my first, The Via de La Plata in 2010, I have held, deep within me, a special love for this Camino. Five years on and no longer a novice, I realise just how much I had been subconsciously drinking in the great beauty of the early stages through Andalucia and into Extremadura. Everything about walking had been new to me – the yellow arrows, the distances, the albergues, the timing of the day. I had arrived in the albergue, my second night on the Camino at 9pm and gleefully elected a top bunk, like a little boy excited by the height: only I was an older man who needed to get up in the night. Then I was also surprised that everyone left so early – 10am seemed fine to me. Learning the ropes was more on my mind than the beauty around me yet I had retained an affection for the Sierra Norte related, I am sure, to its air, its space and the warmth of its embrace.
Leaving Guillena for Castelblanco.
This time however, at the end of February 2015, nothing could detract from my awareness of the wealth of nature’s hold on this Camino in spite of its being a highway for 2000 years and a home to cattle, goats, pigs, sheep and horses which roam freely along many stretches. I had plenty to distract me: my desire for contemplative walking was in the firing line from my physical weaknesses, especially my heart arrhythmia which would instantly lower my energy, stopping me from walking or slowing me to a crawl. More than my arthritic ankle, the heart’s irregularities affect my spirit: I become full of self-doubt, indecisive, confused and clumsy. It is a sudden plunge into melancholy.
A 1 kilo orange found at the side of the Camino.
Melancholy has its own ok-ness and this is confirmed by little discoveries which prevent total despair and appear as graces, as if to say, “It may feel like death, but you are part of this Life which vibrantly surrounds you right now.” And, indeed, while taking a pee I look down and see that I am nearly splashing a gigantic orange buried in the grass, the biggest I have ever seen in my life.
At another moment I close a gate and turn back to the path to notice that I am hearing many birds singing in their different registers, a song to accompany the scene, the garden of Eden, with palm bushes waving and a fine oak half-concealing a yellow arrow pointing the Way, all bathed in sunlight and blue.
More Paradise
The new albergues.
The Via de La Plata has seen the opening of new Albergues all along the route, making it possible to walk shorter stages in most parts. It seemed to me that the hospitaleros of the private albergues have grouped together to promote their accomodation, often recommending a stay in the next one.
Pilar, who runs the Albergue Luz del Camino in Guillena.
Guillena is the first stop on this Camino and now boasts two good albergues. I chose the nearest which is right on the path through the town and met Pilar whom I found cheerful, warm and helpful, the owner of the Albergue Luz del Camino. Here I learned that, in the next town, Castilblanco de los Arroyos, the albergue was shut for the month. Pilar recommended “The Pension behind the Church”. When I did arrive in Castilblanco I couldn’t find it but was soon told it was “La casa del madre d’Agustin” which everyone knew. This was a blissful stop with individual rooms. The village seemed to me to have a cheery welcoming feel, helped by being invited by a stranger to drinks and another who stopped in his car and gave me a lift to the supermarket when he saw me hobbling.
The Pension in Castelblanco, Agustin’s mother’s house.
After these two villages, the camino has new albergues in Almaden de la Plata, Real de la Jara and Monesterio. There were very few pilgrims at the end of February and often I had an albergue to myself.
Antonio’s Albergue at the entrance to Almaden de La Plata. I elected for the municipal one which is a little bit off the Camino, but excellent.
The sierra del Norte de Sevilla
The walk between Castiloblanco de los Arroyos and Almaden de la Plata is long and challenging. Neither in 2010 nor this year did I manage it all in one day, deciding to sleep out in this beautiful regional park. The Camino is marked by triangular, polished granite slabs dotted along its course through a well kept dehesa, a sparse woodland of encina and cork trees.
The Way is marked in the Sierra Norte de Seville with triangular granite slabs.
As night fell I selected a spot by a river where I could sleep, washed myself in the stream and settled into my sleeping bag as the sun slipped away. I woke up twelve hours later wondering where the night had gone although I did recall turning over a couple of times, the first with a bright half-moon, real silver on the Via de La Plata and then, later, as the pre-dawn chill reached deep into my bedding, I remember looking up at the Milky Way and wondering where the moon had gone. I suppose it had moved off during the night allowing the stars to light up the heavens with silver less intense.
Getting ready for bed.
I was frozen while packing up my sleeping bag the next morning. This, however, is the only way in which I could manage the 30km over this unpopulated stretch. I find that the early morning start is a great reward, well worth the chill on emerging from the cosiness of my feathered bivvy. The temperature recovered quickly with the rising sun as silent landscapes came alive while shadows slowly shortened.
A still cold morning on the way to Almaden de La Plata.
Before reaching Almaden the Camino climbs steeply up onto a ridge known as “Calvary”. For those who walk it all in one go, this final hurdle must be a real trial. Well-rested, I found it steep but fairly short. At the top there is a wonderful view back over the path through this gorgeous Natural Park.
Full of awe, I looked back over the Camino which cuts right through this magnificent Sierra Norte of Seville.