Day 1: SJPP - Orisson

Day 1: SJPP - Orisson
~7.5 km (4.7 miles)

After a sleepless night with only 3-4 hours of rest, I was up early, anxious to get started on my journey. During the night I had thoughts of getting up to start walking in the dark, since I did pack my headlamp, but decided against it. 😂 After scrambling for bathroom time, getting dressed and packing up our gear, we headed downstairs, in scheduled waves, for a shared breakfast. Cereal, toast, hard boiled eggs and not so good coffee. 🤷🏻‍♀️

We then packed our gear back into our packs, lubed up our feet to prevent blisters, lathered our faces with sunscreen, and were ready to head out. We had to be out of the Albergue by 8:00 am, which wasn’t difficult due to our anticipation of getting started.

Sue and I, had decided to start out together, so we wished our fellow pilgrims Buen Camino, and set out, stopping only briefly at the Pilgrim store to purchase a Camino coin purse. Thank God that we did stop, however, because the woman in the store adjusted the straps on my hiking poles and showed me how to properly use them. I’d been using hiking poles for quite some time and had no idea that I was using them improperly. Who would have thought that the handles on hiking poles are not meant to be gripped?! 🙄🤷🏻‍♀️

It was about 7:15 am when we started up the hill out of SJPP. The air was cool and crisp with a calming stillness, and my long awaited journey had begun.

There are two routes on the Camino Frances, and Sue and I had both chosen the Napoleon route, which would take us over the Pyrenees. This route opens on April 1 each year, depending on the weather. The other route, the Valcarlos, does not go over the Pyrenees and is open year-round.

It quickly became apparent that Sue and I walked at different paces, so we agreed that I would go on ahead, and we’d meet on the deck at Refugio Orisson.

There weren’t too many Pilgrims out this morning, despite the fact that the stats showed that 2023 was looking to be a record year for Pilgrims walking the Camino Frances, the most popular route to reach Santiago.

I walked alone for a bit listening to the birds and taking in the beauty that surrounded me. The landscape was lush and green and herds of cows and flocks of sheep dotted the hills.

I met Tammy from Canada, a short time into my walk, and I chatted with her for awhile until I was ready to move on. I could see other pilgrims ahead in the distance, but never spoke to any of them until I was closer to the top and an Asian man said to me, “we can do it.”

The pictures don’t do the ascent justice in representing the actual steepness closer to the top. Every time I thought that I would arrive at Refugio Orisson, I would turn the corner only to find that we’d have to go even higher. Switchbacks going up the mountain growing ever so steep with the mountain seeming to play games with me.

And then all of a sudden, I rounded a bend and there it was…Refugio Orisson. It appeared smaller than I expected, but I was happy to have made it. It had taken me 2 hours and 45 minutes. While most pilgrims choose to complete the full 24.3 km over the Pyrenees to Roncevalles in one day, I had chosen to split it into two days because of the great things that I had read about Refugio Orisson.

I spent time hanging on the deck and enjoyed a beer and slice of tortilla. Eventually, Sue arrived and then Tammy. We also met my bunk mate, Valeria from Argentina, who spoke very little English.

While Sue eventually went onto Albergue Borda, 1 km further, and Tammy continued onto Roncevalles, I showered, then hung out on my bunk waiting for dinner.

At dinner all the pilgrims had the opportunity to introduce themselves, share where they were from and tell why they were walking the Camino. It was the start of my Camino family that would continue to ebb and flow over the weeks ahead.

My Aussie friends who’d I met the night before in Albergue Beilari were present (Steven, his wife Angela, her sister Genevieve and their sister-in-law Yvonne). There was also young Kristen from Los Angeles, Robert and Mario from Sydney, Rachel from Switzerland, Paula, a Camiga, from Ohio and so many more.

While I had no idea what to expect going forward, I knew I had another big day tomorrow and that my Camino had finally begun. Czytaj więcej