Day 11: Batea to Fabara

Date	04 Jul 2025 ( Friday )
Today's Distance:	12 miles / 19 km
Total This Camino:	80 miles
Total All Caminos:	1698 miles
Route and Stats
Lodging (Deb & I):	€ 109 @ La Gatera
Total Lodging:	$ 745
Total Airplane(s):	$ 1360
Travel Insurance (Larry):	$ 360
Buses / Trains / Taxis (Deb & I):
Total Buses / Trains / Taxis:	$ 220
Food (Deb & I) :	€ 40
Total Food:	$ 547

On the Road

5:00 a.m. Wake up

6:00 a.m. On the road. Temperature forecast says it stays below 80 until 9:00 a.m.. and below 90 until 12:00 p.m.

7:10 a.m. Rest stop at Creu de La Vall. Sun just popped up over the hills.

9:15 a.m. Exit Catalonia. Enter Aragon.

10:05 a.m. Rest stop for some coffee and biscotti. About the last 45 minutes, we've had actual solid cloud cover this morning, which I must believe lowers the heat index about 10°. Current temperature is 81° f.

10:25 a.m. Back on the road again. It's always a good feeling to be able to get the shoes and socks off for a little bit. Let the feet breathe.

12:00 p.m. Arrive Fabara and check in.

1:00 p.m. Shopping done. Eating at Bar Sport.

2:00 p.m. Headed back to the lodging to do laundry and relax. Temperature is 93 f.

Meaningful Moment

Having serious discussions with Deb about how to proceed. Continuation of our Camino is not in doubt.

But the weather, that is the unusual and brutal summer heatwave here, makes certain types of hiking and activities simply impossible. To be specific, anything after 12:00 p.m. is essentially dangerous.

From Gemini: "In 90°F (32°C) ambient temperatures, an asphalt road can reach 120°F to 150°F (49°C to 66°C), especially in direct sunlight."

And we have 18 miles stages coming up, with few if any, support locations between the start and the end. Segments of these stages will be along asphalt road.

The only reasonable way to continue is to limit ourselves to a maximum of 12 Mi a day, and that goes with a 6:00 a.m. start time for walking.

I believe there will be a substantial number of days where we will arrange for a transportation pickup in advance at some point along the Camino.

This is a new way for me of thinking about walking the Camino as I have almost never ever cut stages short.

But these weather conditions are exceptional, even for this time of year and Spain, and require changing my expectations.

Random Thought of the Day

A most pleasant surprise today. We had cloud cover for about 2/3 of the hike. Especially pleasant was that the cloud cover occurred in the later parts of the hike. I feel that it kept the heat index down by at least 10°, as temperatures towards the end of the hike were in the high 80s.

Another observation this morning is that in this entire week, Deb and I have not seen any other hikers. We have been truly alone on the trails in many parts.

Just completed a phone call with the lodging in Escatron. The man does have lodging available for two nights and he's willing to drive us to some halfway points so that we can break a 30 km stage into two.

The vibe in Fabara is incredible. Every body is so nice and helpful.

Our hostess engaged in animated conversation about meaningful topics.

The server at the restaurant was so kind in going over the menu with us. Questions, answers, humor, explanations and delivered with such patience.

People in the street were glad to help us with directions, and all with a smile.

According to our Hostess, we are the first Americans to stay at La Gatera.

We have a balcony and I'm watching the evening swallows flying all around. They are flying literally just feet in front of me as they do all their spins and turns and dives and climbs It looks frantic but I'm sure there's a method.