Bidania-Goiatz

Alun arrived last night, Gatwick to Biarritz to Hendaye and then walked across the bridge to Irun. Great to have a buddy, especially one with as great a sense of humor as Alun. I slept straight through the night and woke up at 6 to the sound of heavy rain. No point avoiding it, since it was projected to rain all day, so we headed out around seven after a coffee. It was a hard walk, sometimes having to walk up stony paths with just tons of water pouring down from the top. We took two bar stops for the best tasting and most warming cafés con leche I have ever had. People are very nice but think we are crazy. I, on the other hand can’t understand why everyone doesn’t love this like I do.

We did get a few minutes of no rain and an occasional snippet of blue sky. We ran into an Irish guy headed to San Sebastián who was a bit confused, but he was the only other walker we saw. Other than that we just kept plodding up and down, up and down (GPS and other tracks tell me we had 1100 m elevation gain, and about 33 km, not an easy first day), but even in the rain it was beautiful.

Arriving at the Hotel Ibiltze was like entering heaven. One hot shower, clothes washed, and all is well. Tomorrow we continue into the mountains for the first of a two-day mountain alternative. And no rain in the forecast!!!Read more