St. Jean Pied au Port to Orrison 7.5 km
The first of day of the Pyrenees. The gentleman at the pilgrim office that told us that the fist 400 meters right out-of-town was the worst; he was obviously suffer a bit of dementia. There were several sections that were equal to the start, if not worse. The problem is, we know how to make switchbacks in Washington State, in France and Spain each leg of a switch back is miles long! The tradition of the Camino says the more forgiveness you need the more you suffer. I must have lives a pretty sinful life!
Except for the grind of the walk, the views (oh, I forgot, we were socked in the whole way).
Actually it was a blessing because the light warm mist was refreshing. Debby and I are trying to remember the last two days and we have decided it was like childbirth, there was only one way out of it and if you remembered how hard it was you would have only one child.
There was a point on one of the many “summits”,or so we thought, that we came upon some kerns along the crest.
It was a beautiful sight, little trail markers made by so many pilgrims. So I decided to squat down and put the final touches on ours. Well, my legs could have barely lifted my body weight, then add a 20 pound pack….I was stuck! I had to roll over on all fours and push myself to standing. It was not a pretty sight. Until that moment I didn’t understand the pilgrims’ guide warning to be wary of the vultures with a 10′ wing span. I could easily have looked like a meal stuck in a squatting position.
There were plenty of wondrous moments. (They are coming back to me.) The sheep bells and their baa-ing through the mist was an amazing sound. When the fog lifted and showed where we had started and the heights we had reached was elating. When we came upon the water tank, right when we thought we could not go another step, with words of encouragement. And greetings from each perigrino that passed up wishing us a Buen Camino.
We finally reached Orisson, had a cold beer, got situated in our bunks and ate our second communal pelligrino meal.
My thoughts are rapidly changing from…”omg what are they doing!” To….oh I’m beginning to envy you”. And oh the laughter that must have occurred when you were down and couldn’t get up! Happened to me…ah, in the kitchen.
I can see that you two are going to be my source of optimism for each day.