2012-09-08 Saturday

2012-09-08 Saturday

St. Jean / Roncesvalles

Camino Day 1, today's segment is 28 Km. We woke up at 0600 with the alarm clock, got ready quickly and walked out at 0630 to meet Terry and Nancy at their hotel. We had breakfast there, grabbed the sandwiches they prepared for us, took a photo to document our departure, and started walking at 0710. 

Paulo, Nancy, Terry and Erico early in the morning, still dark, poised to start the Camino. Ready or not, here we go!

It is immediately uphill. Steep uphill. Relentless uphill. We went up hoofing and poofing. 

This is one of the easy inclines.

Terry, "Sister", Nancy and Paulo. We kept meeting "Sister" over and over during the Camino.

A view of the valley below.

Paulo, Terry and Nancy at one of our frequent stops.

Some of the small farms that dot the landscape

When we got to a place called Horizon, just a single building, a restaurant and small inn, we stopped for an extended water break.  Joaquim and Marcio were there, and we sat together at a picnic table, we chatted with them for a while and then we took off.

Erico, Nancy, Terry, Paulo, Joaquim

We continued the relentless uphill walk, the only good thing was that the views were gorgeous.

Terry and Nancy 

Pilgrims resting from the steep ascend

At 1230, we stopped to eat our sandwiches; that's when I discovered that I had left a bag with all my snacks and my "buff" at the hostal. Paulo and Nancy offered to share theirs. I ate my sandwich and one of Paulo's granola and chocolate bars for a quick burst of energy to help me face the steepest part of the route and final ascent of the summit. 

 Pyrenees

Nancy and Terry during a snack break 

One more small farm 

Terry, Nancy and Paulo 

Terry, Nancy and Erico

We reached the summit at 1315 with noodle legs and out of breath. We rested for 10-15 minutes and then started the steep on loose gravel and rooted trail, the descent was much steeper than the ascend. The last 6 Km or so were hardest than the ascent, the legs and knees took a pounding and the fear of falling on the loose gravel, with the subsequent scrape of limps on the rocks, was always constant. After frequent breaks to rest our legs, we arrived on Roncesvalles at 1550. I had estimated we would arrive there no earlier than 1700, so we had a fast pace after all. We arrived with feet hurting, legs burning, lungs searing, but with spirits soaring. 

We went straight to the Hotel Roncesvalles, the "village" is just 6-8 buildings anyway; it's a nice hotel in a restored convent, and checked in. A mishap happened with my reservation for T and N, it was for tomorrow, I don't know what happened, but they had one last room available, a two room suite and they gave it to them for the same price as a regular room.  

After we settled in, we went to the albergue to have our credentials stamped and then managed to crawl to the village's bar for a couple of celebratory beers.

We showered and washed our clothes and hung them to dry in our rooms, before going out for dinner at the 1900 seating.  We all had the "3-course Peregrine dinner" for 9 euros per person.  After dinner, Paulo treated us for a round of "Pacharan", a liquor made with berries that grow in these mountains. 

We went to sleep early, we were all very tired.