Day: June 11, 2025

Day 28 – Santa Catalina de Somoza to Rabanal del Camino

Walked: 7.3 miles. Camino2025: 160 mi.

Daina prepared a breakfast for us (before the normal time) plus gave us several “to go” items to take with us. She then gave us a goodbye and “see you next year” hug and sent us on our way.
As we left the village we also left the pavement and rejoined the dirt path.
El Ganso, (pop.30) our first and only stop along today’s walk came at the 2+ mile mark. The Meson Cowboy albergue appeared to still be operational with its huge Teepee bungalows.
The only sign of life in the village was the small shop that serves coffee & tea and other pilgrim essentials and offers restroom facilities. We bought a few items to add to the local economy and continued on.
Leaving the main road as we left Ganso, we rejoined the dirt path.
The walk looked pretty much the same most of the way to Rabanal.
Still walking along the road.
Rabanal in the distance and the road on our left, barely hidden by the brush.
Finally a change of scenery as the path heads into the forest for a mile or so.
We usually take the road at this point, but today, to gain a little shade, we stayed on the path until it returned to the roadside just outside of Rabanal.
Rabanal is just around the corner.

We arrived at 10:30, stopped by Pilgrim Stone and confirmed our checkin time of 1:00. With very limited options to fill the time, we walked to the end of the village, adding another 1/4 mile to our walk and perched outside a familiar hotel/restaurant until they opened their dining room for lunch.

We chatted with a young lady who was also waiting nearby. She was on an electric bike and was waiting for her partner to catch up. She was from Barcelona and said that her trip from SJPDP to Santiago by bike would only take 2 weeks!

We also chatted with a couple from Monterey, California. It was their first Camino, they both were 60 had just recently retired and had an open ended date for their return home after reaching Santiago. The conversation carried over into having lunch together and sharing Camino experiences. We said our goodbyes and will likely cross paths again between here and Santiago.

Linda entering the front door of our B&B accommodation for the night.
Getting settled in our room at Pilgrim Stone B&B.

We checked in at 2:00 p.m. and spent a relaxing afternoon and evening.

The walk between Santa Catalina and Rabanal, especially in the summer, has typically been a grueling one for us. But today, partially because of the cooler weather, it seemed much easier for us than before. Go figure. Each day on the Camino is always different, to one degree or another for different reasons.