You leave Astorga behind you, the cathedral still at your back for a little while. Then it goes quiet. The Maragatería opens up before you: wide tracks, low stone villages and very little shade.
The day is one long, steady climb. There is hardly any downhill, yet it never feels properly steep. That’s the catch: you walk for over 7 hours and your legs only notice late in the day. Rabanal del Camino is a good place for a break. After that the path gets steeper, the air fresher and the mountains bigger.
Foncebadón sits at over 1,400 metres. It’s a small mountain village with stone houses and a single road. You put down your rucksack and look back over the hills you have just climbed. Tomorrow, the Cruz de Ferro awaits.