We set off with a small group of friends just after 9 am from the Plaza Mayor, down the hill on the road and onto the Via Verde - the old disused railway track which is now a walking pathway.
We had already ignored a couple of diversions which would have taken us into very muddy territory so when the track indicated that we should leave the Via Verde and head off to the right into more muddy fields we chose to ignore it - by now we were on our own as our compatriots had forged ahead.
We made good time up the steady slope of the old railway but at least it was easy going and according to the route map, we should be joining the route again before turning left up to control point number 1. It was as we were crossing a very steep embankment that we noticed groups of people walking up a track to our left below us - they had crossed from our right through a tunnel below us!
We had been encouraged into believing we were still on the correct path by seeing a few yellow markers even though by now we were completely on our own!Hoping that there would be a link track from ours to theirs just a way up ahead we continued for quite a while before deciding to call it a day and head back home the way we had come.
At least having walked so far up the track than we had ever done before we had seen some new and different views of the village such as the view of the hermita of San Juan in the distance. Our house is right next to it but on the other side of it as it is seen in this photo.When we returned to the Plaza Mayor after a quick change of footware and a cup of tea back at our house, we were presented with our "keepsake" for participating in the marcha. Last year it was a hiking stick, this year a small first aid kit and yes, the village doctor and his friend the doctor from a local village both got their first aid kits too! Lots of people were using their hiking sticks on the march this year - hopefully the first aid kit won't be necessary next year.
This was followed by a hearty meal of bean stew with bits of pig's trotters in it - delicious - under the cover of the Ayuntamiento.
In England the participants of such a walk would probably be walking because they were being sponsored for charity but that is not the case here where you partake in the event simply because you want to.
