Day 08: Tortosa to Estació den Benifallet
Day 08: Tortosa to Estació den Benifallet
| Date | 01 Jul 2025 ( Tuesday ) |
| Today's Distance: | 11 miles / 18 km |
| Total This Camino: | 48 miles |
| Total All Caminos: | 1666 miles |
| Route and Stats | |
| Lodging (Deb & I): | € 77 @ Antique Estacio de Benifallet |
| Total Lodging: | $ 409 |
| Total Airplane(s): | $ 1360 |
| Travel Insurance (Larry): | $ 360 |
| Buses / Trains / Taxis (Deb & I): | € 12 Tortosa to Torre den Corder |
| Total Buses / Trains / Taxis: | $ 220 |
| Food (Deb & I) : | € 35 |
| Total Food: | $ 433 |
On the Road
4:30 a.m. Wake up call
5:30 a.m. Cab arrives.
6:00 a.m. At our start point of Torre den Corder
8:15 a.m. Coffee break, followed by supermarket run.
I thought I had left my phone at the bar, so this literally turned into a supermarket run, when I ran back to the bar to see if my phone was there. It wasn't, because it was in my backpack all along.
10:00 a.m. We have been passing through many tunnels which are an absolute godsend against the hot sun.
11:45 a.m. At our room for the night.
2:00 p.m. Temperature at 100f.
First day where we had lots of shade for protection against the beating sun and high temperatures. Started in the '70s around 6:00 a.m. but by finish time at noon it was in the high '90s. All sun, all the way.
Today's high temperature around 11:00 a.m. was predicted to be 100° f. This is impossible hiking conditions.
So last night Deb and I decided that we would have the hotel arrange for a taxi from Tortosa to somewhere 3 Mi to the north, which would cut out about an hour and a half of hiking.
Our alternative could have been to take a taxi at the end, but this would have been very complicated by a late call to a cab who might or might not be available or willing to take the fare.
Meaningful Moment
Tomorrow we cross the Serres de Pàndols-Cavalls.
This will be an absolute challenge as it is approximately 11 Mi hiking.
The actual climb of the mountains comes in the last third of the hike when temperatures will be in the '80s and possibly the '90s.
Our plan is to start hiking at 6:00 in the morning, at breaking dawn, in the early morning glow in the park in order to reach the 1200-ft steep climb while it is still in the '80s.
Just to be clear, we are using trails ... This is hiking in the mountains, not mountain climbing.
Our lodging tonight is at the base of the mountains in a arboreal forest.
The greenery is just beautiful as contrasted against the light brown sand and rocks.
Later this afternoon when it cools down to 90f, I would like to take a walk around the area and explore.
But right now I'm sitting in the shade with Deb. Just relaxing.
The heatwave is not just here on the Camino del Ebro. I think all of the Camino trails are experiencing rough, rough weather.
We have not had any rain here, but other parts of Spain have had intense downpours which makes hiking just as difficult.
We have had some communication issues with the owners of our lodging.
They are off-site managers and we communicate via text messaging.
The manager indicated there was a gas station nearby which turned out to be approximately 4 MI walking distance. ... I later discovered it was more like 2 mi, but I found a shortcut trail that was not listed.
One of the things we expected was a refrigerator in the room, since we asked about bringing food.
To our surprise there was no kitchen or even an appliance to keep the food that the manager said we should bring.
But Deb is so good at, so to speak making lemonade out of lemons, that you'll see in a picture below, our buffet for the night.
Since we had some initial concerns, we stopped at a supermarket in the last town in order to buy Spanish cold cuts and cheeses, canned tuna, tomatoes, yogurt and cookies and electrolyte drinks for tomorrow's hike.
Random Thought of the Day
These are some of the headlines about the weather in Europe right now.
- Barcelona records the hottest June in over 100 years as a heat wave grips Europe
- Europe on alert as first major heatwave of 2025 pushes temperatures to 42C
- Europe sizzles under severe heatwave sparking health alerts and wildfire warnings
One of the ways we are dealing with the heatwave is by modifying how we are hiking.
Today at the start of the hike we took a cab approximately 3 Mi closer to our destination before sunrise in order to save approximately an hour and a half on the other end when it is brutally hot.
Deb and I are the only ones at the lodging tonight. It is an odd feeling to be surrounded by these mountains and in this restaurant and buildings of rooms of beds and to be alone. But it is absolutely gorgeous.
The trail that we are following has many uses. The segment that we are on now is known by the following names:
- Via Verda
- Camino de Sant Jaume
- Camino Natural del Ebro
- GR-99
Nice combination of flowers and trails and mountains
Entering the mountain area National Park. Getting hemmed in.
A professional hiker watching the bikers go by
No longer at the same level as the Rio Ebro as we walk continuing upwards into the Ebro Valley
The story behind this picture is that we were told by our hostess that there was no food available here so we stopped at a supermarket in the previous town and loaded up with cold cuts and cheeses and some fruits and vegetables and some cookies. This was our Buffet tonight.
One of many tunnels
Late evening walk to stretch the legs. The gas station to which I was walking turned out to be closed. But it was nice to just move around even though the temperature was still around 90°.
Each tunnel was a respite from the sun. It felt like the temperature went down by 20° inside them.
This was our first real different type of terrain, as opposed to rice fields and flat trails following wide irrigation ditches.
It was our first day of being hemmed in by cliffs.
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