Mostly uphill days are done.

Arrived Roncesvalles/Ronceveaux.
Today we got up and had a pilgrims breakfast under the most magnificent sunrise. We were above the low lying fog on the villages below. The horses with their big cowbell-esqe bells running up the trails to start their own days.
The first 7 or so miles of our walking day was up hill. At least today we had flats and dips to recover in (unlike yesterday). It was clear, windy and spectacular on the peaks, green with new spring grass. It was nice to walk among all of the people that we celebrated with last night at our pilgrims dinner. We have indeed started to accumulate our camino family. We crossed the French/Spanish border which was basically unmarked and headed on.

The last part of our day was the descent into Roncevalles. Somehow we 4 managed to walk three different trails to get there. I slipped and fell, my trekking pole sacrificing itself to save me. I had to continue with only one. Hopefully in Pamplona I'll find another set. We finshed our 10 mile day, easing into increasing our daily distance as the terrain flattens out.

We checked into our hotel in Roncesvalles, had dinner and congratulated ourselves for a good day.

Finding lodging in some cities seems to be an issue these days with the overwhelming influx of pilgrims, so we booked the next two days and will start booking a couple days in advance.

Posted by JimLæs mere