As Jesus leaves Jericho he no longer travels now with only his disciples (Mark 10:17, Mark 10:23, Mark 10:32) but is from now on again surrounded by a fairly large crowd of people. Mark illustrates it and almost counts those present: He was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd.
Some commentators wonder why Mark mentions the arrival in Jericho when he does not tell us anything about what happened there (unlike Luke 18:35–19:10). We do not have to think here of editorial seams or something like that. If Mark wants to tell a story that happens after Jericho he has to mention that meanwhile they have reached that town. Moreover, Jericho is the place where Jesus moves once again in the crowd of people. Therefore, Mark mentions this town as an important junction on the way to the cross.1,2
46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.