Day 7: Puente de la Reina a Estella

Let’s talk about smells. I had no idea. The beginning of the Camino passes livestock farms, so there manure from sheep, horses, cows, pigs. Now I’ve passed into more agricultural land, and there’s a smell that somehow reminds me of home. There’s some sort of plant that smells like mothballs or an elderly person’s home. There’s the sweet smell of new flowers in bloom, freshly mowed grass. There’s the familiar but not nice smell of sweaty people and clothing that’s been stuffed into a pack all day. So many smells.

Now let’s talk about switchbacks. It seems that Spain did not get the message that switchbacks are a great way to go up and down steep hills and mountains. At best, the path wanders some; at worst, it follows the incline of the terrain. My joints are doing pretty well except for when I’m going down, down, down. Then my knees protest a bit!

The insoles have helped a ton! I felt today like I’m finally hitting my stride. It was still hard to get going this morning, probably taking me 2 miles or so before I started to enjoy myself. But after that, I felt good! Tonight I’m staying in a parochial albergue, which are donation-based. There are 16 of us in the room and we’ve been told there’s a wake-up call at 6:30am (it seems like most people get up at 6a, so that shouldn’t be an issue).Read more