Jaca to Santa Cruz through Atarés

One of my hardest walking days ever. I left Jaca at 6:30 and got to my little hotel in Santa Cruz at about 3:30. I spent a good two hours at the monastery, getting an ice cold Aquarius in the new monastery, and then gawking and admiring the old monastery. When I picked up my backpack at the ticket office to start walking again, the two staff wanted to ask me what life under Trump was like. That led to a half hour of animated discussion, disbelief, and commiseration.

I did finally leave the monastery at about two. It took me an hour and a half to walk 4 km. It was steep, and Rocky, though not dangerous. I just went slowly. But I was wiped out when I got here. The restaurant was closing and they would squeeze me in, but the thought of eating a meal in my stinky sweaty clothes without a shower was more than I could bear.

But in addition to being one of the hardest days, it was also one of the most beautiful. Views of what’s left of snow in the Pyrenees, lots of shade in the forests, lots of babbling streams, but the trail was very tough. Not so much for its steepness, though it was steep, as for all the rocks and the erosion made by torrential rains this winter. Lots of “ hopping“ across streams on slippery rocks, which more often than not wound up with me getting one or both feet in the water. But I am not complaining, it was glorious.

In Atarés, more or less the halfway point, as I was checking my phone to see what a Forum friend had recommended I do when I got to a river crossing, all of a sudden my phone went berserk. My wikiloc tracks disappeared, and somehow I called the facility where Joe is living. I had a moment of panic until I realized that I was the one who had made the call, and they were not calling me. I had a nice little chat with the nurse who said all is well, and on I went.

I was really dreading the rocky descents, but yesterday in a WhatsApp with a forum member who is a few days ahead of me, he mentioned how he uses a patella strap under his kneecap. The last time I had bad knee troubles, I used a compression knee brace, but it didn’t help and I think made things worse. So last night I ran to the pharmacy and bought one, and Eureka! My wonky knee is in good shape even after so many rocky and steeply descending kilometers.

Tomorrow I have a very short day, about 16 or 17 km, so I am going to stay and have breakfast in the hotel at eight, and start walking around nine. Unheard of for me. The temperatures are supposed to be in the high 30s/low 90s, so a late start might not make much sense. But the idea of sleeping in and having a real breakfast is too good to pass up right now!

The little town that I’m in, Santa Cruz de la Serós, is the site of a convent that was affiliated with the monastery up in the mountains. Since it’s a horribly rocky four kilometer path between these two places, I’m not sure how much contact they actually had. But Santa Cruz has its own beauty of a Roman church and is perfectly situated with mountains on several sides.

I am soaking my feet in the river, and will stay up past my usual bedtime, because the restaurant in the hotel doesn’t open until 8:30.

My wikiloc tracks are in two separate pieces, but the total is about 25 km with 1000 m up and 1000 m down.

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