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Village square
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Quiet street in Pamplona this morning as we made our way to the Caminoteca to gear up. The staff were friendly, knowledgeable, and so helpful.
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Wall of tiles made by children.
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We ordered our first "menu peregrine" today, a lunch special offered to the pilgrims on the Camino. A sample of what's to come.
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Day Zero. We've condensed our lives into 18.3 lbs. (me) and 22.5 lbs. (Michael), which we will carry on our backs for the next six(?) weeks. Each new leg of our journey requires that we lighten our load a little more, though the path becomes more challeng
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The dreaded unipillow strikes again!
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Uphill detour...
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The scenery is spectacular. We're lucky to be here at this time to experience wildflowers.
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First stamp!
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The little wildflowers alongside the road make me so happy. Orange, yellow, red, pink, purple, white...they're not the grandiose blooms we have in California. They're more modest and require a vigilant eye to spit them.
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First stop in Huntto, only about six miles from our starting point. It was a steep climb thus far. We have about 13 miles to do tomorrow, 9 of which will be uphill. EEK!
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Dinner was a five-course meal that ended with a light-as-air apple tart(?) served with a slice of pungent local cheese and plum(?) jam.
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Today we hiked over 15 miles from Huntto in France to Roncevalles in Spain. It's supposed to be the hardest leg of the Camino. This graphic shows just how steep the climb was. (Our guidebook estimates nearly six hours to hike this leg. We took it easy, an
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Most of the day was misty and chilly, which was good weather for so much climbing. A lot of the hike today felt like Mendocino, CA--the chilly fog, the rolling green hills, and the black slugs inching across the grass.The sun would have been exhausting. I
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The wildflowers kept me distracted during the steep climbs.
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First small altar with offerings
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Virgin del Carmen on the mountainside
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There are always pilgrims ahead and pilgrims behind. The Camino quickly becomes a metaphor for life.
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Mushrooms
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Only 765 km to go...
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The summit about 12 miles in from Huntto.
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We discovered the one patch of snow.
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Abandoned boots
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A peek into the chapel reveals walls of sparkling stained glass.
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We spent the night in a pilgrim hostel that used to be a monastery. We attended the evening Blessing of the Pilgrims mass in the chapel and slept in a bunk dorm in the basement. This morning, our hospitalero hosts woke us at 6 am singing a beautiful bless
