VDLP 2013 - Day 5 - To Aljucen

Leaving at Nautical Dawn, 

the trek from Merida to the Embalse was straightforward and on paved path.

 A gravel path took me around one side of the water, 

where I watched the quiet sunrise.

Soon after, the flechas took me up between two bars.

In Melanie's VDLP app it just says to go 

between Caramelo Beach and Chiringuito Rosendo.

I was looking for an actual beach 

and nearly missed the turnoff up to the left.

The Cruz Roja hosted a nesting stork.

The pilgrim who passed me DID miss it and he caught up with me later.

The walk after leaving the Embalse continued on pavement 

but was very pretty. 

Soon I turned off to the left to walk a sandy path 

through oak trees and countryside.  

After, there was some road walking, but except for one pilgrim, 

the Way was deserted.

I had to watch carefully for the turn off to the left, 

at which point I found myself walking among fields of wildflowers. 

Along the way were these tiny frogs on the path.

 I had to be really careful not to step on them. 

They were the size of my thumbnail.

The flowers were so pretty!

This was a beautiful walk that took me 4.5 hours to go 17 k. I'm slow.

What are these seeds? They look like rattlesnake rattles!

See the tiny frog?

I also saw other wildlife. . . 

And some not so wild life…

Soon, I was seeing landmarks like this cross,

…and this graffiti.

Before I knew it,
I was in Aljucin.

The albergue here is small, but quite nice.
Here are some photos:

Alucen albergue was full to the gills tonight!