Although I didn't rush out this morning, I was on my way before the other pilgrim, Lies, left the albergue. Heading north on the small road out of Chanos, I split off onto a trail less than a half mile after starting. My research had indicated that this was a prettier and more adventurous route, though some folks continue down the road to the same destination. Parts of the trail were really beautiful in the morning light.
The trail certainly was more adventurous! I found myself face-to-face with a large horned ram part way through this segment. This was a first for me, and I wasn't sure how to handle it! But he wasn't aggressive and I made my way past him.
The trail merged back into the road in the village of Fresneo, and shortly after that I encountered Lies. She had missed the turnoff for the trail, continued on the road, and was just ahead of me in Fresneo. We walked together for the remainder of the day. Much of our early distance involved descending into a valley. We could see the main road off in the distance and spied villages long before knowing whether we would traverse through them.
About four hours into my hike, we dropped down into the valley town of Campomanes. There is a hostel here, and I wondered when walking through town how John the Irishman had fared - this seemed like a long way to go after getting shut out of accommodations the day before! Lies and I stopped in a cafe at the near end of town so she could have a coffee and I could have a Coke. After a few minutes, she recognized a group of Spanards who had been a day behind me on the Camino. One of them had my pants! I was most grateful.
We were at a major landmark in this Camino, as much of the rest of the way to Oviedo would follow paved roads. Campomanes sits at the convergence of two valleys, and once was an important coal mining town. There are multiple old mining towns along the rest of my route to Oviedo, and some of them gave a vibe very similar to mining towns in West Virginia and Appalachia.
From the bar, we continued another 4.6 miles through the valley to Pola de Lena, where Lies had a hotel reservation and I checked into the municipal albergue, the Albergue de peregrinos San Martin. This albergue, located on the 2nd floor of a municipal building next to the train station, was a great value at 8€ for the night. I had to call ahead the day before to reserve, and I think I asked Lies to do this for me.
We had pizza together that night in a restaurant on the main street, the Restaurante Pizzeria Parallelo. It proved to be good pizza, and well deserving the 4.5 star average it received on Google Maps. The ownership and staff there were Central American, and were working hard in hopes of one day obtaining Spanish citizenship. And I obtained a stamp for my credential.
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