Day 4 – Cercedilla to La Granja de San Ildefonso

So, this day is from Cercedilla to La Granja de San Ildefonso and this is the day we go over the mountain. So, we were somewhat nervous about today because for us, this would be the biggest challenge that we’ve faced yet on any Camino route. We decided to set off at dawn, which was 7am and the authorities at the youth hostel very kindly prepared us a packed meal. We already had quite a bit of food with us for the journey, so we had the packed meal as breakfast before we set out.  

The first 4-5k’s was all uphill and towards the end very steep and very rocky. So, I think it took us about three hours to reach the top. It was really a question of just going slow and steady and making sure that we didn’t turn an ankle or injure ourselves on the way up but it was really quite exhausting.

And then we had a nice surprise when we arrived at the top. So, at the top we reached the Puerto de la Fuenfria and just as we came over the top – onto the top of the mountain we were faced with this huge cow or bull I should say, just standing there looking at us and he had four or five cows around him. Wonderful looking animal and it was like a greeting as we arrived at the top.

Then after a short break we started what we hoped was going to be the fairly easy part of the day which is sort of steadily downhill before our turnoff to Valsain. We didn’t quite think we could make it all the way to Segovia. That would be about a 27 km day and a hard day for us. So, we cut the day short a little bit by going to Valsain and we found the turnoff okay and then it was about 4km road walk down to Valsain. I found that the hardest part of the day walking steadily downhill really puts a lot of strain on the knees.  

And we hoped that by the time we got to Valsain, we might find somewhere open for lunch. And of course, as always, the Camino provides because as we came into the main part of the village, which is very small, indeed there was a bar open serving lunch and so we grabbed some lunch there, which is really good.  

And then, given that our legs had really given up for the day, we jumped on the local bus to go to La Granja de San Ildefonso which is where we stayed for the night. All in all, a really great day, but absolutely exhausting for us.