This is why we like backpacking–the B&B was glorious. Having our own bathroom that we didn’t have to share (or dig a hole), sitting down to breakfast and having it prepared and served to you, Tim and Louise even cleaned our Jet Boil for us as well as doing our laundry–all these things which are taken for granted on a normal holiday are amplified so much more after camping out for a week.
Rain had been predicted until 2p today so we decided to eat a late breakfast (8:30) and take our time packing up. We managed to delay starting until 10a. Delay starting to our normal start time. When we want rain, the sun shines. We spent the day walking in full sun instead of the clouds we were hoping for.
By the guidebook, today was supposed to be just an 8 mile day with less than 1500′ of elevation gain, but that would make tomorrow a 14.5 mile day with over a mile of elevation gain–we’re not ready for that yet! We decided to take the first climb off of tomorrow and add it to today if we were able.
The day started off with a little over 3 miles of road walking. We were doing better than usual after an off day–Pam was complaining about how tired her feet and legs were, but this has become normal background noise on the trip. As we were entering Caro, I felt a pop in my left ankle. I started having pain while I was walking. We stopped at a bench by the church and I took off my boot to see if anything was noticeable. The pain lessened if I walked on level surfaces and disappeared completely when I was climbing, but downhill really hurt. I toughed it out to show Pam how to ignore pain until it gets better–I doubt if she picked up the lesson I was trying to teach.
We followed the road until it changed to gravel and then a forest track. We both had to pee really bad and were looking for a place to go more than watching for markers. We finally found a depression in the shrubs where Pam could drop and dribble. Just as she finished a French man appeared and started talking. When we said no French only English, he asked if we were hiking some loop. We said no, the GR10. He then said you are off the trail.
He led us back to the turn we missed. In fairness to us, it was a little deceptively marked. Just as we got to the turn, another couple walked up. They started walking by and I asked if they were on the GR10. They said yes and started to walk past the turn. At first they didn’t believe it was a turn either. The French man and the other man began talking until he was convinced this was the turn.
The couple (Axel and Heike) turned out to be from Nuremberg, Germany. This was their first day of hiking the GR10 this year, but they had hiked from Hendaye to St Jean last October. Axel speaks 3 languages (German, French, and English). Once again, I was embarrassed by my lack of language skills.
We walked together for a while but got separated by a couple of fairly aggressive and curious horses. We had made the mistake of petting them and then they started following us. We dropped back and then they kept pestering the German couple. Finally she had enough and yelled at the horses. They lost their curiosity and began eating grass. We tip toed behind them hoping to not get their attention again.
Next up was our big climb of the day; about 1000′ up to cross into the valley where Esterencuby is. As we got near the top, we were both dragging pretty bad. We had used up all of our fuel from breakfast and needed a break. We sat behind some rocks and had a snack.
Now we were ready to finish the climb and head down into town. This is when I discovered that my ankle pain hadn’t disappeared as I had hoped. The climb down was a little painful, but I could alleviate some of it by shifting my weight on to my hiking poles. When we finally made it to town, we stopped at the restaurant for a coke and a dessert. Our German friends were there but had to get going because they had reservations at a gite in a couple of miles. They had to be there before 6 or their room might be given away–it was already 3:30.
Pam and I chilled until 4 and then decided we had to get going. We were hoping to make the 1900′ climb to the pass by 6. It wasn”t a terrible climb, but it was very hot. We tried to maximize our time in the shade as much as possible (i.e. cooling off often). We made the pass at 7 then took a break to watch the sheep. We decided these are really stupid animals and that we don’t need any more pictures of them. The no more pictures was my conclusion and not Pam’s.
We still had 2 miles to go for the spot we were hoping for. We could see people camping down in the valley. We wanted to stop because we were both tired, but we needed water first. We’re going to start cooking 2 meals a day to save money (plus we need to use up all the food we brought with us and stored in St Jean).
When we got to the spot I had picked out on the map, there were already 2 tents there. It was a nice grassy spot right off the road and next to a mountain stream. We said we needed water and they pointed out a path in the woods that lead down to the stream. I filled water bags for Pam to filter.
When we were finishing up, the guy could see I was looking for a spot to camp. He told Pam about a spot way back in the woods he had found after they had already set up camp. He told us which trail to take. I went to check it out and it was ideal.
It was already after 8, so we hurried to set up camp and cook supper. While our ramen noodle creations were cooling down, we soaked our feet in the stream. It didn’t take long to turn them blue. This is without a doubt, the best camping spot we have had on this entire trip.
