Full Circle

In four days we've walked 41 miles from St. Jean Pied de Port back to Pamplona -- what took us a 75 minute bus ride on Saturday.

We had our first serious snorer in the room last night, but I was so tired it never bothered me. My calves are still a little tight, but a solid sleep did wonders for my body. Breakfast was coffee and toast, and we stopped later at restaurant/bar beside the river we'd been following all morning. Several folks we'd met at Borda came through the coffee stop while we were there, so we made plans to meet up in Pamplona.

Missy left the bar before I did, and since she's a faster walker anyway I expected her to get to Pamplona first. Today there were walks by fields, a little road walking, and time in the forest with a lot of very narrow trails at the top of very steep drops. It was cool in the woods, and you could hear the river, so it should have been very peaceful, but I spent most of the time imagining tumbling over the edge.

Despite the terrain being fairly reasonable, the weather mostly cool, and the distance definitely shorter, my mind just didn't want to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I came to a rest area of sorts at the base of a climb. It had a flowing water fountain and stone picnic tables, so I crossed to the furthest one (because it was the shadiest) and sat down. Stone picnic tables are exactly as comfy as you'd imagine, but it was delightfully cool.

I worried that my long break would mean Missy would have to wait even longer for me in Pamplona and thought about WhatsApping her to let her know she should go ahead to the sports store like we'd planned. About then I saw someone who looked like Missy coming from a completely different direction. She and Nikki, another pilgrim, had gone to see the church. At the top of a large hill. Unintentionally.

Sometimes signs with the Camino logo aren't pointing you to the path, apparently.

We walked down main street of a fairly large town just outside Pamplona. The signs became arrows on buildings, then paintings on the sidewalks. At one point we'd stopped to look at a sculpture in the middle of the traffic circle. A driver apparently thought we were looking for the path and kindly stopped mid-circle to point us in the right direction.

I checked in to the hostel (Aloha again, Aloha) while Missy and Nikki went for some Welcome Back sangria. We found a great "everything a pilgrim needs" store that carried the shoes Missy likes. Her hiking shoes are just not working for her, so I was glad she found something with which she's familiar and comfortable.

Met up with our Borda crew, as we call ourselves, for drinks and pintxos (similar to tapas), then came back to rest up and pack. Tomorrow is another 15 mile day, and it is supposed to be in the high 80s, so we are planning an early exit from Pamplona.Læs mere