Camino de Santiago Week 2 summary - Logroño to León (Electric wheelchair style)

It was fantastic to return for a second week to the Camino de Santiago commencing in  Logroño where I had finished in October 2021 It was like home-coming in its familiarity and simple functionality. Your commitment is to the path, and following the yellow arrows keeps you safe and leads you to food, shelter, safety and ultimately Santiago de Compostela.

* Week 1 of my Camino journey is available HERE  

Once again my journey involved a long drive via Switzerland to Logroño where I garaged my VW van. Over the next seven days I travelled from Logroño to León, a distance of about 300km, on my Genny Mobility self-balancing wheelchair

Progress to date: 2021 Saint-Jean-Pier-de-Port to Logroño. June 2022 LogroñoI to León
Santiago de Compostela in the west as the ultimate destination                Map data ©2022 Google

This section of the Camino traversed different landscapes than my 2021 trip. From the satellite image above you can see the green woodland section west of Logroño that leads to the high agricultural planes of north central Spain. The section west of Burgos is called the Meseta, a high upland plateaux that is largely big open fields of cereal crops. Many pilgrims choose to miss this section, getting busses directly from Burgos to León and avoiding the long uphill climbs and days of open repetitive views

Although the landscapes are generally similar in this section, progress was easy on my wheels and the riot of wildflowers a delight. Travelling faster than most walking pilgrims nothing was arduous or unsatisfactory, rather insightful and meditative    

At times I would journey with others, getting better acquainted with people I had shared a meal with or met at some earlier point however mostly I would travel alone at my own pace. This could be faster or slower than others depending on the terrain and many times I would overtake people who would later catch me up at a steep hill or when breaking for coffee or lunch. Most days I was comfortable covering between 30 and 40km

The path ascending to the Meseta leaving Castrojeriz 

Early June was great weather with fresh early mornings getting hotter till early afternoon where I would settle into whatever albergue I was staying in. Often it was late afternoon or early evenings that was the hottest and I would rest, read and dry washing

   

There is much good art on the Camino

In my 7 available days I ventured as far west as the Cathedral city of  León. This was a journey of about 300km which I considered a real achievement. I had covered 13 day sections as defined in the guide in my 7 so approaching twice the pace of the average walking pilgrim. According to the guidebook I have 13 sections left to Santiago de Compostela

I am uncertain if I am rushing, keen to continue but also not wanting to finish. What I'm not doing is the various Cathedral visits or city break days to explore museums and galleries. This may be a missed opportunity but may also be a limitation of being a wheelchair user as often access to these old buildings and sites involves access limitations which can be really disappointing   

With these mixed emotions I have already booked a return of another 7 days this coming October

   

Santa Iglesia Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de Santa María de Burgos

From León I got a series of busses via Burgos back to my starting point in Logroño to collect my VW van

Camino credentials

- Buen Camino -

* To view all these posts in chronological order please scroll down or click HERE