Lee-Ann and Dave's Bien Camino: Navarrete to Najera

Today's total distance = 11 miles

Today's total ascent= 300 feet

Cumulative distance = 120 miles

A slightly longer walk today, but with the bright blue skies, and gentle breeze it was enjoyable. After leaving the narrow streets of Navarrete,

we followed a small road past a small town cemetery. The carved gateway is from the 13th C hospice ruins we passed yesterday.

Across the street was a pottery. The red clay of the Rioja area is put to good use.

Shortly after, we turned onto a track of red clay leading us past olive tree groves, vineyards and bodegas.

We noticed how rocky the vineyards are.

There's still plenty in the fields, even though they seem to pile up lots of them on the side.

We had a long stretch of walking beside the A-12. For some reason, we had lots of company for most of the morning.

Towards late morning we came near the village of Ventosa. However, unlike other days, we didn't get any closer than this :

And so decided not to take the detour into town. We had a slight incline all morning, but now the path rose more steeply.

After one final push upwards,

We reached the top of Alto de San Anton and these scenes

This poor guy didn't. The inscription caught my attention.

We've passed quite a few memorials to fallen pilgrims over the last 10 days. I'll post a collection later.

About a kilometer from the top we passed this informational board.

Nice to know we're so close. Usually, we have the path to ourselves in the afternoon, having been passed by the faster hikers, and leaving the slower ones behind. But today we had lots of company.

A little further down, we encountered this beehive hut.

I'd seen pictures like the one above in our guides, so was taken by surprise when found it in this environment. I guess it's all how you frame the picture :)

On the outskirts of Najera, we passed a gravel works and came upon a rest area where we decided to eat our picnic lunch.

After a short rest we continued walking into town, passing this interesting graffiti.

As we got into town we heard a lot of yelling and cheering. A Saturday ritual played out around the world. Note, these kids are playing on concrete.

We passed over yet another puente to reach old town Najera, with it's back to red cliffs.

Najera's claim to fame is the Monasterio Santa Maria de la Real. So after shower and a short rest I went off to see it. The church was founded in the 12thC, according to legend , after Don Garcia Sanco followed his hawk into a cave and saw a vision of the Virgin Mary. The statue below is a 13th C carving now occupies the cave which is part of the complex.

The current 15thC church is connected to the16thC Knight's Cloister and Royal Pantheon. The kings, queens and knights of Navarre from the 11th and 12th C on are buried here.