Puente Almuhey welcomes you without any fuss. Rucksack off, boots off, and only then do you look back on the day. It was a friendly stage. After the mountainous start to this route, that feels almost suspicious.
You walk at altitude for a stretch, around 1,200 metres, but you hardly have to climb at all. There’s more downhill than uphill, so your legs get a chance to catch their breath. About 18 kilometres is very doable, and you’ll arrive in good time. There’s no steep climb forcing you into an emergency stop, just the road, the wind and time to look around. The further you go, the smaller the mountains behind you become. Ahead of you, open country unrolls.