Spain's Camino Lebaniego, Day 2: August 15, 2026

Day 2 of my Camino Lebaniego brought me into the mountains.  My hike to the albergue (hostel) took 5 hours with 59 minutes stopped, covering 11 miles.  Much of the latter part of this hike involved an ascent of about 1400 feet (miles 6.3 to 10.0) before dropping 500 feet over the last mile.

I hiked much of the way with the two pilgrims who had hiked with me the day before, along with another Madrid native who didn't know much English.  Along the way, we encountered other pilgrims who had stayed in the same albergue the night before and would stay in the same place with me this night, as well.

It was a pretty cloudy day, which obscured some of the mountains, but we often got glimpses of the spectacular terrain. 

A lot of this day involved walking on rural roads, but there was very little traffic, so it wasn't a burden. You can see that many of the photos taken this day were along roads. We took a side trip to the little town of Quintanilla to have lunch at Casa Miguel Restaurante.  This day was some kind of Spanish holiday, so not much was open along the way.

This was our view of the town we stayed in, Cicera, as we approached.  

Below is a photo of the hostel where we stayed.  The gated window on the lower left was a window into the room with tables for eating.  The small balcony on the second floor was actually a bathroom, and you can see pilgrim clothing hanging from the balcony in the upper right.  This albergue was run by the municipality, but it was unlike many public albergues as I needed to reserve in advance using WhatsApp.  It had no wifi, but it cost only 8 euros, and was a good overnight stop.

The town itself had a single bar/restaurant, which has a reputation for slow service.  During my research, I learned that there is an overlook a little outside of town.  I took the 3.4 mile/1000 foot ascent to that overlook, and it was absolutely worth the extra effort!  The views were spectacular, and there was a food truck at the parking lot for the overlook where I obtained a drink and a 10€ salad for dinner.

Between the food truck and the overlook were a series of somewhat creepy sculptures, honoring mythical creatures that supposedly inhabit the woods.

Along the way, I encountered a family from Minneapolis who were in Spain to experience the total solar eclipse that occurred the day before I arrived.  With the help of Google Translate, I also talked with a couple of Polish women, who took my photo at the overlook.