Day 1: St. Jean Pied de Port to Borda

Everything I’ve read about the Camino Francés says that the first stage is the most difficult, so Grace and I were feeling pretty confident the first couple of hours of walking today. I was starting to feel like I was worried for nothing. I mean, it was all up hill and it wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t THAT hard. Oh, how silly of me to get so comfortable! About 5 kilometers in, the trail got steeper with no flat spots at all to rest, and by the 8th kilometer, I was barely able to keep going up, but I did it anyway. I’ve been calling this my slow Camino, and I definitely did the last few kilometers at a snail’s pace. Grace handled the trail like a champ and was a great encouragement to me! We got to our albergue (Albergue Borda, 48€ per person for shared room, dinner, and breakfast) by mid afternoon and this place is a gem. We enjoyed drinks on the beautiful terrace with our fellow pilgrims, about 15 of us in all. Half of us are from the US, and others are from Canada, Austria, Lithuania, South Korea, and New Zealand. The pilgrim’s dinner, prepared by Lorenzo, the owner of this albergue, was delicious and has really set the bar high for the Camino Francés.

We still have a long walk to the summit tomorrow, but not as steep as today’s climb. Lorenzo has assured us that today was the most difficult part, so I’m counting on that being true!
Foot and leg report: legs are tired, but no serious issues or pains. My feet feel great, so thinking I made the right choice of footwear with my Hokas. We will cross the border into Spain tomorrowRead more