Day 23 GR1 Liguerre de Cinca

Apparently the weather has been dodgy back in the UK and Christine was stuck on runway at Stansted for 5 hours. Poor Juan was waiting for her at Zaragoza Airport with the intention of making a multi-modal trip to Samitier to meet me at 3 o'clock to climb a big hill to look at a castle before going to the hotel. Despite the plane being so late amazingly they get to Samitier after Juan charms a lift from a young woman who is waiting for her cousin on the same flight. She drives them the 75 kilometres to Huesca and they then get the taxi as planned - alls well that ends well.

All I have had to do today is walk 20 kilometres from Paulas de Sarsas to Samitier. Nice walk but without with drama of yesterday. The Pyrenees were shrouded in cloud and the little villages had people living in them. Within 15 kilometres or so from rural desolation, villages like Arcusa had been restored and the houses gentrified.

Day 22 GR1 Paulas de Sarsas

Totally massive day, and apart from a 15 minute break I walked for 10 hours and 30 minutes and covered 40 kilometers. There was significant climb as well with 4 passes to cross. Another wonderful day, amazing scenery, lovely trail and so much to see.

Said goodbye to Piluca at the casa rural at 8.45 in Nocito and the next person I saw was a shepherd, stick behind his back with three wildly barking dogs, leading his flock of sheep up the hill to Las Bellostas. That was about 9 hours later and he was clearly surprised to see me.

Even more than yesterday the evidence was everywhere that this was a countryside which was full and is now empty. I had my lunch next to a church at the abandoned village of Nasarre. In front of me was a grave where a man had been buried in 1962. As I said yesterday it's all happened in my lifetime. Just down the hill, set amongst neglected terraced fields, is the large and impressive farmstead at Pardina Villanúa - you can still the blue paintwork on the beams in the front room. From the distance Otin looks like it's occupied - there is stucco on some of the houses and some have ornate metal balconies but, despite a sign on a wall pointing you to the bar, Otin is as empty as everywhere else.

Day 21 GR1 Nocito

Brilliant walk, great scenery, lots of interesting and unexpected things and a lovely trail.

Again it's a different route to the one Juan walked and today the GR1 Sendero Historico followed the Camino Natural de la Hoya de Huesca all the way from Arguis to Nocito. I went on the old route, which still has GR signs on it, along the road up to the pass at Mesón Nuevo only to find when I got there that the new route came cross country up from Arguis. To be honest it didn't look that nice - all routes lead to the pass and there's a sodding great motorway to be avoided whichever way you go.

Once I got on the new route the signs were brilliant and took me all the way to Nocito. Compared with the original GR1 it's more "off road" - carefully avoiding anything that could be accessed by a vehicle. It's had a lot of money spent on it including some unnecessary and slightly ugly hand-rails. Minor complaint though on what is otherwise an excellent trail.

Day 20 GR1 Arguis

Doesn't feel that I've done a full day's walking when I finish at 2.30, particularly when weather is as perfect as it was today. Got another short one tomorrow as well!

I stayed in a casa rural in Bolea and Isabel, the landlady, couldn't stop laughing despite the fact that we didn't understand a word each other were saying. She rang her daughter this morning just to ask me if I wanted to take a sandwich, and then rang her again to find what I wanted in it. What a pain the language barrier is.

Like yesterday the GR1 has been rerouted. From Bolea until it crosses the pass at Paso de Nieve it follows the same route as the Camino Natural de la Hoya de Huesca and then reverts to its original route.

Ermita de la Trinidad

Day 19 GR1 Bolea

When it comes to navigating along long distance trails every country in Europe is different. In the UK we have fantastic maps, with the routes and rights of way clearly marked but on the ground the way marking is comparatively poor. In Spain the routes are not marked on the maps so you're dependent on the way marking, guides when they exist, or a GPS trail from someone who has already walked the trail before. I'm using Juan's trail which he has developed over a series of trips along the GR1.

In Spain routes do however change, much more frequently than in the UK where changing a "right of way" is a big deal legally. In addition variants are often added and "on the ground" it can get a bit confusing particularly when there is no route map to refer to. That was the story of today - lovely route but not the one I was expecting and a good bit longer.

Day 18 GR1 Murillo de Gállego

No Day 17 I'm afraid. It rained all night on Saturday and according to the weather forecast it was going to rain all day Sunday. I was in a comfortable hotel in Sos Dey Rey Catolico and the idea of tramping for 9 hours through the mud to Biel just didn't appeal. Of course what usually happens when I decide not to make a trip is that the sun comes out - well it didn't - it kept raining, walking would have been miserable and for once I had made the right decision. I hung around Sos Dey Rey Catolico all day, had a drink in the Parador, saw the sights and rested up.

I am however on a schedule - the accommodation is all booked and I'm meeting Juan and Christine at a particular time this Saturday. To get back on schedule meant a taxi trip to Biel where I was supposed to stay last night. The taxi took nearly an hour but it was a nice trip and I got to see Uncastillo yet another lovely town surrounding a castle on top of hill.

The huge church in Biel

Day 16 GR1 Sos Dey Rey Catolico

Pathetic but true, I'm lying on my bed writing this blog when there are people outside my window, dressed up in medieval outfits, playing pipes and banging drums. I've arrived in Sos on the day they celebrate the thing for which the town is famous for, the birthplace of Fernando the Catholic on the 10th March in 1452 (I guess today is the nearest Saturday). It's been a tough 38 kilometre walk and to be honest I need to rest my feet - I'm just too knackered to go out and enjoy the fun.

Actually this is a very interesting place and a sensible person would stop here for a day and take it in. It's an old fortress town on top of a hill and much of the wall and all of the gates are still intact. The medieval street pattern inside the walls is still there as is the castle, with its watch tower, and Romanesque church, and a second watch tower centred on the Sada palace. It's all been carefully restored and must be packed out in the summer. Despite all the men in tights it was fairly quite when I wandered around trying to find the hotel.