Camino Primitivo Alternate Route (March 27, 2020) - Day 1 Oviedo to Grado

The adventure starts! The anticipation of the first day walking a Camino route is always super high...and today was no exception.

The plan was to walk 25.8 kms to Grado however I overshot a bit and went 26.6 kms. Luckily enough I was able to find suitable accommodation however now see that this could become an issue as this Camino progresses. Hopefully I will not have to sleep on a park bench somewhere.

I left my overnight accommodation at 6:14 am and arrived at my starting point, approximately 10 meters away, just before 6:15 am.

3C with little wind so perfect walking conditions. 

Spectacular morning scenery!

Spectacular morning scenery!

Walking Path

The walking path is not as varied as other Camino routes I have previously done and some might say the scenery is not as spectacular or varied. Let me show you...

My Camino Walking path!

My Camino Walking path!

So I am walking in the back yard and on the deck of my daughter’s and son in law’s house. Dawn and I live in a super nice basement “granny/grandpa” suite.

From one end of the deck to the other is 13 steps, the yard 12 steps deep and 10 steps across. Now there are many varied ways to accumulate steps. 1) back and forth on the deck 2) rectangle in the yard turning right 3) rectangle in the yard turning left. More complex variations are 4) walking towards the shed and then crisscrossing through the middle and still walking the rectangle. This can be done from the left or right side.

Finally, and much more scary, is actually going behind the shed...and taking your chances with dangerous animals!

So hopefully this gives you an appreciation for the challenges faced in completing this Camino...it takes a certain amount of perseverance however today’s walk only took 6.5 hours or so!

Dangerous Animals

Past Caminos have had their share of dangerous animal encounters. So far I have been fortunate...

If you look carefully you will see squirrels

Squirrels...missed taking a picture of the robin!

I am somewhat concerned though...take a look at the picture with the hole at the bottom of the fence!

Notice the hole! Raccoons, rats, deer etc etc could easily slip through this hole...I will have to be very vigilant!

I did not meet many pilgrims today...a bit lonely however I listened to numerous podcasts and waved to the occasional passerby on the street. 

While I did not meet many pilgrims the ones I did meet were super nice and special!

Special pilgrim friends!

And they (Rose & Elodie) decided I needed a bit more variability to my walking i.e. switchback type walking!

So day one complete...feet a little sore...tomorrow a 22.1 km day to Salas!