Grace & Chris’ Camino 2025

We walked 18 KM today, about twice as far as yesterday. About half our walk today was uphill but it was not so steep as yesterday. The weather was mostly sunny and mild. In the morning, the sun kept peaking through the clouds in such a way that mini rainbows kept appearing on the ground right off the trail. I think it’s the closest I’ve come to finding the rainbow’s end.

Between the magical views and the fact that the climb — while challenging at times — was significantly easier than yesterday, we felt like we were in a fairy tale.

We had our morning snack at a food truck run by a local shepherd/rancher. He says that he makes his living caring for sheep and peregrinos.

About 4 km from Roncesvalles, I sent Chris on ahead so I could spend more time soaking in the view (and so I could get my RDA of alone time.)

We’re currently hanging out a bar, drinking beer and Aquarius (a delightful electrolyte drink that tastes like a love child between Gatorade and Orangina)..

Next on the agenda:
Shower and change, explore the town a bit, dinner and then Pilgrims Mass at 8.

We hope to be on the road by 6 AM tomorrow since the temps will be in the low 90s tomorrow afternoon.Leggi altro

I told Chris that I would do the more fact filled update so he could gather his thoughts for a reflection, but here we are at bedtime with a 4:00
alarm set. We hope to finish our 20’KM walk while the temps are “only” in the 90’s. It will be over 100 in the late afternoon tomorrow. Hopefully, we’ll be napping or drinking cervezas y Aquarius (the drinks of Camino champions!)

Here are the barebones facts:
We started in Obanos at 5:00 AM
We finished in Estella a little after 2 PM

We had to walk almost 10 km (3 hours) before we found an open bar for coffee. The bar we thought would be open at the 6 km mark was closed when we got there. Reader, I cried just a little. Fortunately, we had Aquarius, some “energy cookies,” and an orange to tide us over.

We caught up with a bunch of other pilgrims at the first open bar and played “leapfrog” with them all day. Having lots of interesting people to talk with helped keep our (my) spirits up when the heat and a little bit of sleep/coffee deprivation almost did me in.

The humidity was lower so we were able to keep cool by soaking our hat, arms and necks in cool water.

We visited 3 churches and only two bars. We went to Mass tonight since we’ll be walking all day tomorrow. We thought we were going to a Pilgrims Mass where the preaching would connect to the pilgrim experience, but instead it was a funeral Mass for a woman named Marisol, a grandmother of 89 years who sounds like a lovely woman (from what I could gather with my poor Spanish ) . Rest in Peace, Marisol.Leggi altro