Day 3, Zubiri

14 miles. 2,000ft gain. 7:21 total time.

The trail today was 'easy' on paper and felt ok, but had its moments.

Among them, the gnarly off-angle rain-slick rock strewn sections... With beautiful wild roses (flowers! And thorns) on the side.

But it also had soaring vistas, soaring raptors, decomposing headstones in an unkempt graveyard, beautiful stone-walled homes, cold beer, friendly people, sun dappled woodsy pathways, witchy murals, a surprisingly well-stocked little market, various bridges over babbling waterways, a single ferocious dog on a chain that reaches halfway into the sidewalk (fun!), many fountains, bucolic pastures, sheep, horses, semi-feral cats lounging languidly (does anything out-languid a cat?), sun, rain, sometimes both, long stretches of well kept pathway, a few highway crossings, bicycles, other pilgrims, a welcome ATM, cool breezes, a happy lab in a river, a snake in the same river, and more wildflowers than I could possibly count.

Along the way I was accompanied by the presence of three people, two dead but welcome in my mind and one who is neither.

I've got no reason why they visited when they did but working through my feelings for them is a big part of why I'm here. I was, frankly, surprised by how intensely I felt my father's company while I was in a wooded section. He and I never hiked together from what I recall but I know that he would have found the setting "As pretty as pretty can be." ... And I was glad to have him along for a spell.

As I write this out I am sitting on a comfortable plastic chair, thinking I should get my sun-weary skin washed and into some shade.

But my cold beer has a little left to give and the salty olives have revived me. The church bell is striking four, con ganas, and people are smiling as they stroll into town.... I could sit here for a while. That my feet are throbbing may also be discouraging me from the 100m walk to tonight's lodging. Is it better to switch to flip flops now? Or keep my feet contained in their shoes until I can shower and let them start swelling in earnest? These are the sorts of "be present" problems that make a trip like this special... The nonsense worries that pervade my normal existence shrink away in the face of self-inflicted discomfort.

I am realizing that the "mild allergies" I've been suffering since last Monday may actually be a mild cold- symptoms have evolved from "I can feel my sinuses" to a relentless runny nose, sneezing, and an occasional headache. Also I've been in 5 cities and regions varying from Mediterranean Coast to 5,000ft in the Pyrenees, to an Atlantic fishing town, to verdant foothills... I can't think of an allergen that would be common to all of those settings.

Fortunately it isn't so bad and I'm sure that a good night's sleep will get me most of the way to healthy.... Assuming a derth of snoring in the room tonight (which has, so far, been a poor assumption).

I may resort to some benadryl that was generously given by a friend moments before I departed... Both for relief of symptoms and also to help me sleep more than 4 hours at a stretch.Read more