Okay, okay. Bill learned his lesson regarding rain gear. He started today very prepared.

The things to note about the photo are: 1) The high tech green rain cover over the backpack.  2) (hard to see) The high tech breathable, yet waterproof windbreaker in the pouch hanging from the bottom right of the pack.  3) Not a cloud in the sky!  Yep, all dressed up and no place to go!. Well, tomorrow it may rain!

We started this morning leaving the hotel San Anton de Abad,  and their beautiful gardens at around 8:30.

The trail immediately took us into the mountains, where we hit almost 4,000′ before beginning the descent towards the Meseta and Burgos (with our stop in Atapuerca). The cool thing was we were back in the forests!

Unfortunately, it was only a few miles of forest before we dropped back down into the drier grasslands (think Oakdale, Calif.). Still, it was very enjoyable.

We will now have roughly 8 days of the Meseta (dry lands) before we reach Leon, and the beginnings of the more verdant Galicia.