Learning to Walk, Day 47, October 13th, Roncesvalles (Spain) to Zubiri

Goodness. It’ been a while since I did a blog post. Sorry. Combination of no wifi and no time! I’ll never adequately catch up on the last several days, but I’ll give you a glimpse.

I’m afraid a glimpse is all I got of my much anticipated crossing of the Pyrenees. Even though I split it into two days, hoping that the second day would be clearer, it was nothing but dense fog. The universe has a cruel sense of humor sometimes. The first day of the climb from St. Jean Pied de Port is an intense 8 km climb to Orisson. I was SO glad I did not do the crossing all in one day (23-24 km) as many people do. I am also grateful that I had already been walking 6 1/2 weeks and was not doing that climb on the very first day of my pilgrimage. That is what people do who just walk the Camino Frances. Their first day is one of the hardest of the entire Camino.

Another good reason for stopping in Orisson is because you get there early in the day—even though it is all uphill, it still doesn’t take that long to go 8 km—which means you get to hang out and talk to people all afternoon, then have dinner with them, and after several hours you have become fast friends. I now have three German friends I am traveling with and it is wonderful to have this little “Camino family”. I don’t know how long we will keep the same itinerary, but I already feel like I have made lifelong friends. I have a couple friends like that from the Chemin. I LOVED walking across France, but it is a very different experience, and unless you speak French you just don’t create the same kind of community.

The fog in the mountains did create a rather magical atmosphere. I’m trying to be positive here. Because the truth is I am really disappointed that I didn’t get to see the amazing vistas from the top that I have seen photos of. The sun came out for a total of about ten minutes. By that time I was well passed the open, treeless area with the really dramatic views at the top. And even if I had turned around and walked back those kilometers, I don’t think it would have made a difference, since the fog rolled right back in. See the photos below.

That’s all for now. Everyone is asleep and I should be, too.