It was time for another longer training day with more weight. I added the amount of water I needed to equal exactly 20 pounds. Michelle added 17 pounds. This weight did not include our bags or water. I was choosing a route that was 8 KM one way. As it departed our hotel, it was city based until going past the highway. I made a wrong turn on the 3 Google Maps options so we wound up going past our Malaga home. No biggie. These training days are about clicks, not views. Approaching the highway was not very pedestrian friendly. The constant drone of cars with not much walking space was a little challenging. Our biggest challenge was with the highway roundabout. Google suggested walking on the driven roundabout. There was no walking bridge space outside the guardrails. The only choice was to walk on the road with very little space while darting traffic on and off the exit ramps. We noticed what looked like an abandoned road on the inside of the roundabout. It was the original roundabout now surrounded by a new roundabout. It was easy to dart across traffic to and from this old roundabout and use it to cross the highway safely. Thankfully traffic was not nuts so we had space to cross and jump the guardrail.
With the highway behind us, the uphill climbing began. This was on a road with very little traffic. It was nice to witness instant quiet for the rest of the walk up. It was only a KM or so before we were finally departed the road and were on a legit walking path. The climb up was a little tough. Michelle needs breaks once in a while during climbs. I walk past her sometimes just taking my time. Taking off my pack and putting it back on it a pain. I'm glad Michelle took a full break as she smelled something familiar growing wild where she sat. It was wild Rosemary and it was everywhere.
It smelled great and was actually a bit sticky. I grabbed some to show our guests at dinner. Michelle used it later as it's great to smell for brain health.
Back to our hike, the last 600 Metres took forever. We picked 100 Metres at a time until we finally hit the destination lookout. There was a sign indicating our destination had been reached. Sadly the sign was worn down to bare metal and was on the ground. I fixed the sign so at least it was standing again. Yay 8 KM done.
Heading back on these training walks is much easier as it's mostly down. The scary highway crossing was less scary and I took the correct route home. It was way easier and more direct. I'm still trying to solve our bag weight and storage issue so I wanted to check out the local Albergue Inturjoven Torremolinos for options.
https://www.inturjoven.com/albergues/malaga/albergue-inturjoven-torremolinos
Perhaps we can book it for a few nights prior to our flight home. With discounts it was 70 Euros per day. I'd go for that for sure. When asked about bag storage while on the Camino, the answer was no. Bummer. We still need to find a solution.
Before heading to our room, Michelle decided to use the Hotel scale to measure the weight of her complete bag. It was 27 pounds. Something was wrong as this was way more than we expected. I needed to weigh something of a known weight. That will be done soon
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