Day 4- Zariquiegui to Lorca

Well the name of today will be “Kodak Moment” . From the moment we started it was nothing but one picture worthy view to another. Sunrises, landscapes, bridges , grape vines etc etc. It is a challenge to get the walk in with all of this beauty surrounding us.Not to mention the fig trees all over that kept CJ full of snacks!
So we got the early start this morning and had the head lamp hiking experience which was really interesting and lead me to my first pondering idea for the day( more on that later). The walk started with a good uphill climb and we got to the top right as the sun was rising over Pamplona. Couple of pics of that as it was magical. At the peak there are the metal pilgrim statues as well. The funny thing is atop that mountain ridge are many windmills . Kind of odd to see modern technology aside a centuries old trail.

At this point we began the descent as the sun was rising which was good as it was rocky and steep. CJ gave me some more walking stick mgmt lessons because my trapezius muscles were killing me. Took a bit to get used to the new techniques but it did seem to rescue the strain. One of the tips was to relax my death grip on the polls and to stop trying to stab the earth to death:) my forcefulness with the poles was transferring to much of the pressure on my trapezius

During the descent I encountered injury number 1 . My foot went one way and my knee went the other way. Not too terrible but definitely tweaked. 5 or so miles after that stopped at a phamarcy and got some ibuprofen which is helping . Right now downhill still has some discomfort but flat and uphill is ok.

We cruised thru the first 13kms and along the way walked with a group of four for a bit. 1 lady from Holland, 2 guys from Slovia and 1 guy from N Carolina. He lives about 2 miles from CJ. Go figure …. they had started there day at 4 am so we said good bye when they stopped for breakfast as we had a few more km’s to get in.
At the halfway point of the day we found a great breakfast place and took our break to feed and hydrate. I had done a much better hydration job today and had a few snacks before we left so my energy level was good. CJ explained that he was getting his hiking legs so don’t be surprised if I zip out ahead. No problem slow and steady was good for me! So I followed him quite a bit today.
Our lunch was in Manura which was a really quaint town and we went to a restaurant a bit off the trail and you could tell they were surprised to have pilgrims come in for lunch. The food was great and they were hospitable but even though I don’t know Spanish I could tell the guys at the bar were having some fun with our appearance:)

Then we set out for the afternoon walk which again was in very sunny and hot weather and without a lot of shade. We cracked out our sun umbrellas and they helped a lot. Mostly small up and downs until we got to our destination. Why is it we always pick a place straight up a freaking hill to get to…..erghhh

We checked into our albergue and the two guys we bunked with last night came into the place like 10 minutes after us! They are from Germany and no English so we smile and laugh with each other…

We just planned tomorrow and it’s going to be a long day as the way the towns layout and some impending rain we have to get 18 miles in tomorrow (30 kms). I will keep the ibuprofen up tonight so that we can accomplish this. As a reward CJ is looking for hotels or pensions to stay tomorrow night. Not that I don’t like bunk beds in a room with 20 other people but I plan to be cranky tomorrow:)

So my mind this morning was on the topic of not knowing what is ahead that I need to plan for. My whole life I have always looked ahead and developed plan a, b, c etc etc. it drives Susan nuts. When you are walking up a mountain in the dark with nothing but a head lamp., guess what. ….You can’t see what is ahead, you can’t create plans …. You just move forward and deal with it as it comes and you know what, worked out just fine, Susan you were right:) It will take me sometime to get to that approach in total but it was pretty cool to be able to do that this morning and the irony hit me right then hence my pondering.
My second pondering was early afternoon when we were leaving a town and CJ stopped and said, …”Dad look at that mountain with the wind turbines…. That’s where we’re this morning” When I looked I said to myself …holy crap that is far away. Most of the time I look forward and the past is the past. When you are hiking and you can see the tangible result of the past , it then leads me to think about taking the time to look back and feel good about what I have accomplished . I rarely if ever do that but it did feel important to take that moment today and savor the victory. Thanks to CJ for that!

Off to the pilgrims dinner and then to hopefully a good night sleep!Read more