Mainstreet

CAMINO FRANCÉS – Day 21: Tuesday 29 April 2025 – LEÓN to VILLADANGOS del PÁRAMO (21 [+4] kilometres)

Today’s walk was a short five-hour ramble that I completed by lunchtime in pleasant temperatures before the afternoon sun burnt through some light cloud. I cannot say that it was a particularly memorable stage of the Camino Francés, for reasons that I will come on to, but I felt good, refreshed, after my Rest Day in León – and there was not so much as a murmur from my shoulders, having enjoyed over 36 hours without the weight of my pack upon them. So things are certainly looking up, as my journey proceeds towards the hills of the Cordillera Cantábrica.

It is possible that I made the wrong call today, in opting to stay on the main Camino Francés path, along the senda track, parallel with the N-120 main road south-west out of León. There is an alternative walking path, probably through quieter countryside, that a sizeable minority of walkers voted for, leaving the main trail just past La Virgen del Camino and heading off onto a more southerly route, stopping overnight at a village called Villar de Mazarife, and rejoining the principal track again midway through tomorrow’s stage. Not to worry – I had an easy day of walking, to get the heart and lungs, legs, feet – and shoulders – fully working again after yesterday’s rest and recuperation. Although I walked at my own pace, I had a number of pleasant conversations along the way with Americans and Australians, Spanish and Austrians, Dutch and French, as we all made our way out of the city, through the suburbs and the outlying villages, and along the wide gravel road-side track into Villadangos.

My choice of route today was determined perhaps by insufficient research into the alternative southerly route (which is slightly longer, but just by a couple of kilometres) and also by the availability of accommodation for tonight. But I am well-placed and well prepared now for the challenges ahead, starting with a demanding walking day tomorrow, and then a long-awaited reunion with the hills.

My Blog heading ‘Mainstreet’ chose itself today, as I had the tune of Bob Seger’s 1976 ballad in my head more than once on the walk out of León this morning. The song appeared on Seger’s ninth studio album ‘Night Moves’ that was his first to award a recording credit to his backing group the Silver Bullet Band. The critics’ reviews at the time were largely positive, with Rolling Stone magazine opining that ‘Seger sings like Rod Stewart and writes lyrics like Bruce Springsteen’ – I am not entirely sure that Seger would have been completely delighted with that write-up, having established himself in the mainstream before those other two artists.