Day 23 : Tudela to Alfaro

Date	16 Jul 2025 ( Wednesday )
Today's Distance:	12 Mi / 19 km
Total This Camino:	200 miles
Total All Caminos:	1818 miles
Route and Stats
Lodging (Deb & I):	€ 91 @ Hotel Palacios
Total Lodging:	$ 1781
Total Airplane(s):	$ 1427
Travel Insurance (Larry):	$ 360
Buses / Trains / Taxis (Deb & I):
Total Buses / Trains / Taxis:	$ 234
Food (Deb & I) :	€ 40
Total Food:	$ 1268

On the Road

4:30 a.m. Wake up.

5:45 a.m. On the road after breakfast in the room.

6:00 a.m. On the way past the cathedral in the breaking dawn, with the changing shadows and shapes, plus wearing trifocals, I missed a step somehow. 2 seconds later I'm on the ground. Pride hurt, but body okay

6:20 a.m. Sun is on the horizon.

6:30 a.m. Came across a section of the trail that was pretty much wet clay. Had to stop and knock it off the shoes cuz it was like adding 2 lb weight to each foot.

6:50 a.m. Sunrise. Bugs are out in force, so insect spray is on and buff is covering the neck and chin and forehead.

6:45 a.m. Divergence between the trail sign markings and the Buen Camino app GPS trace.

The app says to turn right into an abandoned building parking lot and take the dirt trail into the Soto de las Tetones Wild Preserve. The post markers with the Camino symbol say to stay on the road.

Explored the Buen Camino suggestion but what appeared to be a trail was seriously not maintained and very very bug infested.

I could not develop any sense of security about following it.

Probably spent about 15 minutes trying to resolve the differences between gronze.com, signage on the road and the Buen Camino app.

So back to the road.

7:15 a.m. Found the correct entrance the Soto de las Tetones Wild Preserve. It was marked by road signage about 1/2 km farther down the road.

8:05 a.m. Left the Soto de las Tetones Wild Preserve and have entered the Soto de la Remonta Preserve. Temperature is still 65° f, and we are getting some shade along the dirt trail.

9:30 a.m. We have left the Soto de la Remonta behind.

Temperature is 73°, 0% cloud cover.

9:40 a.m. 15 minute break to take off the shoes and socks, and have some snacks while sitting on on some concrete blocks on the side of the road.

10:00 a.m. Back on the road. 3 and 1/2 Mi to Castejón. Temperature is 74°. We just might make Castejón before noon and before the temperature reaches 80°. We shall see.

11:00 a.m. 1 and 1/2 Mi to go to Castejón. Temperature 78°.

11:35 a.m. Temperature is 81f. Just arrived Castejón. End of day's hiking. Sitting on a bench and refilling our energy stores.

12:00 p.m. At a bar for agua con gas. Everyone is smoking.

2:00 p.m. Crossed into the autonomous community of La Rioja, thanks to the generosity of a Camino angel who saved us a lot of time by giving us a ride from Castejón to Alfaro.

Meaningful Moment

The Camino angel

When we reached Castejón, we decided it was time to stop hiking for the day. We had no need to walk three more miles to Alfaro, where we had a hotel reservation.

The train to Alfaro was still 3 hours to departure. The local taxi service was not available.

We couldn't not find any information online on a bus route, but we thought there must be one, there had to be one.

So Deb went into the supermarket to inquire.

I was in the parking lot and walked up to this gentleman to ask. He was not from the area, and did not know.

As it happens, Deb came out of the supermarket and had gotten information on the local bus stop and that there was a schedule there.

So I thanked the man for his time and Deb and I started walking to the bus stop. On our way there, he pulled up and offered us a ride to Alfaro, as he was headed that way anyway. We gratefully accepted his kind offer.

So we had great conversation in the car about family and Camino and especially some of his recommendations for local food dishes which included chorizo with potatoes and a local pastry that I'm not familiar with. "Almendras con inojado". Unfortunately I cannot find anything like that online.

So when we got into Alfaro, he offered to drive us to our hotel which as it turns out was about 1 minute away. So I joked about miracles. He dropped us off at the hotel and went on his way.

He let us off at our hotel which saved us easily an hour if not 2 or 3 hours of time, allowing us to check in and relax much sooner than we had planned.

Random Thought of the Day

Early start to avoid the heat. Good choice. By the time we finished around 11:30 a.m., we were getting exhausted. But we did have good temperatures in the '70s, some shade from trees. Last quarter was urbanization type stuff and that's not so interesting. Overall, great morning hike.

For dinner in Tudela, we just weren't that hungry so we opted for a mixed salad and tapas. It turns out that that was all we needed. Of course, we did get an ice cream before we went back to the room.

Train Outside of Castejón

After ending our hike in the outer limits of Castejón, we are sitting on a bench to relax, but in another urbanization.

Just as in American tract housing developments, there's no sense of community life in these places. No bars, no sense of people out and about, no kids playing in the street, etc etc.

Entering Castejón

Agua con gas at a bar.

Tomorrow's plan

Tomorrow is expected to be blisteringly hot. Because of prior planning, we already know it's going to be a short day, just 8 Mi.

Coincidentally, the hotel we're at today has a breakfast that starts earlier in the morning than most places.

This is the first time this trip that I've been able to take a full style European Continental breakfast at our habitación, and I'm looking forward to it. We will be getting breakfast around 6:15 a.m. and hope to be hiking at 7:00 a.m. so that we reach our destination by 11:00 a.m., when unfortunately it's already expected to be very very hot.

But if we're on schedule, we'll be able to rest and relax despite the heat.

If only we can check in earlier than 3:00 p.m..