Lost and found: Sénergues to Conques

Thursday was the shortest day I’d done on the Camino so far. I left Sénergues only knowing that I wanted to get to Conques in time for the 11:45 am Mass at the abbey church. That allowed me to get a late, leisurely start at 9 am.

It was also the only day so far I’d managed to get myself somewhat lost.

As I was leaving, I had one last look around the gîte in Sénergues. It was a relaxing, refreshing stay that made the previous afternoon’s long wait worth it.

Looking at the countryside from the gîte in Sénergues.

The route wasn’t particularly challenging, other than a relatively brief climb out of Sénergues and a longer, steeper descent into Conques.

However, at some point during the descent, after having been lost in my thoughts for a while, I came to a paved road. Typically, when the trail meets a road, there are white and red markings telling you which way to go and which way not go.

Typical trail marking to indicate you’re on the correct path.

I realized there were no markings here, and that I hadn’t seen a marking in quite some time. Somehow I’d let myself get off the trail, and I wasn’t relishing a climb back up a steep trail to figure out where I’d gone wrong.

Typical trail marking to indicate you’re not on the correct path, but not far from it.

I pulled out my phone and looked at the map. It turned out the road I was on also went to Conques. Rather than trying to find the trail, I decided just to find the village and pick up the trail when I got there.

I’ve already written about the nearly 24 hours I spent in Conques. If you missed it, you can read about it here.

Approximate distance walked: 6.5 miles.