Cirauqui

We were due for some rain today but it did not eventuate, however, the results of the last few days were apparent on parts of the path and I wasn’t paying attention. As I mentioned yesterday, I took some time taking care of housekeeping by way of laundry. After arriving at my accomm this afternoon I washed the same clothes again. Yep, took a tumble in the mud – and for those of you who might be pursing your lips and arching your eyebrows, I want to emphasise the fact that I fell over – I did not have a fall.

And now for a Pyrenees update. This morning at breakfast, I ran into Zoe from Rotterdam who had been staying in the same accomm in St Jean. She walked to Orisson on her first day and then started from there to cross over to Roncesvalles on Saturday. While we had clear skies but a ferocious wind on Friday, Zoe and her fellow pilgrims copped rain, sleet and snow during their day on the Col de Lepoeder. She ended up in the same hut that I had been in the day before, except that she and her mates had to light a fire to stave off a bad outcome. They decided to make a run for it because they were so close to the top but they were the last ones to get through before the police closed the Napoleon route and turned people back towards St Jean. I met another guy today who made it to the border crossing but was turned back down the mountain and then had to arrange a ride to Roncesvalles via the Valcarlos route. If you take a look at the profile in Footprint 2, you can see both routes clearly marked. Apparently, there were lots of tears and disappointment from exhausted walkers, which I can completely understand, however, it is so easy to make a fatal mistake on that leg of the Camino.

And now to today. Walking through Pamplona’s suburban streets to pick up the Camino, I came across a fellow pilgrim who was lost. He is the fabulously named; Lucky Sakamoto, from Guam. Lucky also got caught in the storm and was one of those who were turned back at the border – after walking up hill for 17kms! Anyway, we walked together until we were through the University and into a satellite town called Cizur Menor. The walk out of Pamplona is quite nice and not at all like Burgos and León. Ahead of us I could see Alto del Perdon, our major climb for the day. On either side of the path on the ascent, rolling fields of wheat and rapeseed surrounded us in green and gold. Along the ridge were so many wind turbines that I couldn’t count. When I first crossed in 2017, there were about forty, but today there looks to be easily three or four times that number stretching kilometres in either direction.

Once at the top, I took a breather before walking to the other side of the ridge and looking down at the three small towns that lay ahead of me before reaching Puente la Reina. The path down to Uterga is very rocky and steep so that made things difficult but, it wasn’t as bad as the walk into Zubiri a few days ago. Once at the bottom, it was a pleasant walk for the rest of the day. Muruzábal, has a really nice Camino bar so I stopped there for a drink and I ran into Bill (West Wyalong) and Chris (Lismore). They are old school friends and are walking to Burgos for a few different reasons which I won’t expand on here but they are having a great time together. I left them at Obanos where they are staying, and soon after reached my accomm on the outskirts of Puente la Reina.

All-in-all a great day on the Camino and tomorrow I’m looking forward to a more gentle transit to Estella.

Buen Camino pingüinos.

Distance today: 23.7 kms
Total distance travelled so far: 90.1 kms

Click here to see Efren Gonzalez's video of his walk from Pamplona to Puente la Reina:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP9j9FiinD8&amp…Read more