Breakfast at the hotel: coffee, ham and cheese, a bit of Spanish tortilla, tomatoes, yogurt and honey, and a piece of toast with that wonderful Spanish tomato purée on it. I felt much better armed for the day.
Today's walk was 22.51 km in 6 hours and 33 minutes. It felt a lot more like the monthly Rambles I do in Luxembourg except for that ding-dang 10 kg backpack. But even that was more manageable today's as I was wearing my bulkier items: rain pants and my jacket. It rained all morning and finally stopped about halfway through. I didn't mind the rain at all. I have a cover for my backpack (plus inside all clothing is in dry packs) and it was fine. I made a rookie mistake by heading out the door with too many layers -- had to stop after 15 minutes to shed my fleece. But otherwise I was kitted out just fine.
Today had two climbs. Nothing at all like yesterday. In fact, if I came across these on one of my regular hikes, I doubt I would think too much about them except
1. They were in the middle and
2. That ding-dang backpack!
Often I find I can only take a few steps at a time before I have to pause, lean on my sticks, and take a moment. There is no moving along at a normal clip -- which actually makes me more grateful that I am alone. I would hold you back!
And descending -- argh! It wasn't the backpack so much as the terrain, both yesterday and today. Yesterday I realized after that I had taken the steeper/more treacherous descent into Roncesvalles. Today there was no avoiding the route. I knew about the final 3.6 km from my guides. At first it wasn't treacherous, just fiddly. Mincing steps over scree and gravelly terrain. Until the final kilometer. I edged down sideways, slowly, slowly, so as not to slip. At one point I had to hold on to a bush and sorta rappel down. The owner of my pension tonight told me that often guests arrive covered in mud from having fallen. Once he had a Japanese lady guest who took two hours to walk the final 3.6 km because she was inching down so cautiously. I was very grateful to have both my walking sticks, I tell ya. I did the last kilometer at a blistering 2.31 kph!
No real lunch today. I had a small piece of chocolate and an apple around midday before I bought some cheese in a tiny grocery store. I made (another) rookie mistake by walking by a cafe-type place that looked open because I had just seen a sign for a place 300 meters farther that sounded better. When I stuck my head in, it smelled good, but I didn't see a soul. And I wasn't about to backtrack.
Now I'm ensconced in a little pension. I heard one other guest clomping around. I have my own room, but we share the bathrooms (I got my shower in before she arrived). The owner will make us breakfast in the morning, and he told me where I can get dinner later, but then I think he goes to his own house. He DOES have a signed poster of Miguel Indurain (5-time winner of the Tour de France, among other "palmares") in the "living room." I had forgotten that he's from Villava, which I will walk through tomorrow on my way to Pamplona. Ooh! Cycling and hiking!
Speaking of which, it is profoundly exciting to me when I manage to pull together a decent sentence in Spanish, and endlessly frustrating when I can't. The people I'm dealing with don't speak anything but Spanish. And I saw no one else walking today. Of course, there are other pilgrims: I saw about eight in the little restaurant last night. But with my leisurely 9:00 am departures, I'm not seeing them during the day.
But I don't see any reason to start out before 9:00 am. It's still dark at 8:00 am. And what else do I have to do other than walk? Of course, I want to be settled somewhere before it gets dark, but as long as I'm where I want to be by around 4:00 pm, that's fine.
That's all I can think of about today. Much love to everyone, especially my Home Team!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Calle de Gerestegi, Zubiri, Spain
What a brilliant account of your day! I'm enjoying your writing so much and to think, there will be a whole month of it! Very happy to hear all is going so well for you. Keep it up! And thanks again for sharing your adventure. :)
ReplyDeleteI have been reading of your progress on the Camino Forum as well as this blog.....keep travelling safely....take some time to 'stop and smell the roses' as well. Looking forward to reading more. Oh yes,...where can we see your photos and your videos....Buen Camino...
ReplyDeleteI can't seem to get them to load. Send me a frien request on Facebook.
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