I decided to post this separately from the "taking a tent on the Camino de Madrid" thread so that maybe it will be seen by others in the same situation as johnjosiah1.
The stage from Cercedilla to Segovia is a long 31 or 32. The first 15 or so are elite status beautiful, but once you're over the pass at Fuenfria and have descended off the long ridge walk, the terrain changes dramatically and there's a lot of scrub, no trees, mountain bike trails, and then still more, a long 8 km or so slog into Segovia on a flat no-nonsense wide trail.
If the stage is too long, there is an option I've learned from my friends on a Spanish language forum. There is a turn-off from the Camino that takes you to the town of Valsain. From there to Segovia there are very frequent buses, or of course it would be simple to get a taxi. I can see it on google maps, and I remember seeing it down below as I was walking to Segovia. The directions I got are rather vague, here's a translation:
Before arriving at the "Shephard's Fountain" (Fuente del Pastor, a great place for wonderful water), there's a split -- the branch to the right is on asphalt and used by bikes. Take it. Two or three kms further on, you come to another intersection. Take the path on the right, which takes you downhill and into Valsain.
I know that's not terribly specific. Maybe you can get a better idea with some of the maps that Peter Robbins has. But from Valsain, it's 12-14 kms into Segovia, so it will have cut off the most tedious part of that stage.
The man who posted the answer lives in Segovia, and offered to give you some personal assistance, so johnjosiah1, if you plan to do this, let me know a bit ahead of time and I'll contact this camino angel.
Hope this makes this stage do-able for you and others who might be dissuaded by the long distance, because this is a not to be missed section of the Camino de Madrid!
Buen camino, Laurie
The stage from Cercedilla to Segovia is a long 31 or 32. The first 15 or so are elite status beautiful, but once you're over the pass at Fuenfria and have descended off the long ridge walk, the terrain changes dramatically and there's a lot of scrub, no trees, mountain bike trails, and then still more, a long 8 km or so slog into Segovia on a flat no-nonsense wide trail.
If the stage is too long, there is an option I've learned from my friends on a Spanish language forum. There is a turn-off from the Camino that takes you to the town of Valsain. From there to Segovia there are very frequent buses, or of course it would be simple to get a taxi. I can see it on google maps, and I remember seeing it down below as I was walking to Segovia. The directions I got are rather vague, here's a translation:
Before arriving at the "Shephard's Fountain" (Fuente del Pastor, a great place for wonderful water), there's a split -- the branch to the right is on asphalt and used by bikes. Take it. Two or three kms further on, you come to another intersection. Take the path on the right, which takes you downhill and into Valsain.
I know that's not terribly specific. Maybe you can get a better idea with some of the maps that Peter Robbins has. But from Valsain, it's 12-14 kms into Segovia, so it will have cut off the most tedious part of that stage.
The man who posted the answer lives in Segovia, and offered to give you some personal assistance, so johnjosiah1, if you plan to do this, let me know a bit ahead of time and I'll contact this camino angel.
Hope this makes this stage do-able for you and others who might be dissuaded by the long distance, because this is a not to be missed section of the Camino de Madrid!
Buen camino, Laurie