Today’s feature photo on loan from the personal collection of Shaun Perks.
At 6a, the lights came on and hospitaliers started walking through making sure that everyone was awake. Everyone has to be out by 8. The only thing missing was a drill sergeant banging on a trash can to wake everyone up.
Because we were so late getting in, they wouldn’t let us get a ticket for breakfast. We decided to just make a cup of coffee and eat a few snacks then get breakfast in Burguete which was only about 2 miles down the road. While we were eating first breakfast, Shaun walked by. We called to him and he sat with us for a bit. We decided to walk together a bit today.
The trail leaving Ronceveaux is nothing like the one entering it. There were over 150 people all heading out at once and it was a nice level trail. We made the 2 miles in about 40 minutes. We stopped for a late second breakfast (as if 8:30 is late for us) while Shaun just had a coffee. After our meal, we stopped in the grocery store to pick up a few items to have a picnic lunch later.
We covered the next 2.5 miles in about an hour and a half. None of us had slept well last night with 40 people in each dorm. There was plenty of snoring, coughing, and aches from the previous day to keep us awake. Our recovery was less than complete with George’s being almost non-existent. When we got into Espinal, George wanted to quit for the day. It was not even 11 yet. We decided to split up with George staying in Espinal and we would head to Zubiri with Shaun. We’d take a zero day in Pamplona to wait for George to catch up. That would give him a light day today after the killer day of yesterday, and only 22 miles to cover in the next 2 days for him. He can do the mileage, he just usually doesn’t want to push himself to do it. But he’s proven his ability by the 16+ miles yesterday on the roughest terrain of the whole pilgrimage–it will be more of a mental challenge for him from here on out. I was worried about leaving him, but he’s a big boy.
With Shaun leading the way and setting the pace, we knocked out the next 3.5 miles and made it into Viskarret by 1. There was only one moderate climb out of Espinal and then a somewhat steep descent into Viskarret. The trail wasn’t too bad. Most of it was forested so there weren’t a lot of great vistas, but it was very pleasant walking.
Shaun said there was a bar when you entered the town, so that was our goal. We got into the bar and Shaun saw some people he knew from the hike the last couple of days–Rob and Michele, also from Australia. There seem to be a lot of Aussies on the trail. They might even outnumber the Germans. There’s instant camaraderie with most people you meet on the trail. I would say I haven’t met anyone yet that I don’t feel comfortable around which is pretty amazing considering the sheer numbers of people starting every day.
Rob and Michelle finished up not too long after we got there so they let us have their table. We made our baguette sandwiches and ordered cokes from the bar. It didn’t take us long to catch up with Michele and Rob once we got back on the trail. There was one more moderate climb out of town which slowed Michele up a bit allowing us to catch them. Once we caught up, we kept leapfrogging each other the next 4 miles.
When we got to the high point of the day, we crossed a road and there was a vending truck sitting there (with a sweet, pleasant odor reminiscent of marijuana emanating from the attendant). We decided to stop for a beer as a reward for our good performance of the day and to keep us going the final 2.5 miles. While we were having our beers, Rob showed up and got one as well. Michele was just a few more minutes behind, but she arrived just as he popped the top.
The final stretch into Zubiri was all downhill. We were making pretty good time trying to beat the darkening clouds. The clouds won; we stopped to don our rain gear. Once we got our packs back on, we were pretty cautious because the trail went from being steep to being steep, wet, and slick. Rob stayed behind to wait for Michele to catch up.
Pam set the pace for the rest of the way. We got in by 4:30. The first 2 refuges were already full so we ended up at El Paleo de Avellano. Shaun, Pam, and I got into an 8 bed room and only 1 other person made it in before bed which meant we had 2 showers and a water closet between the 4 of us.
We dropped packs and headed for beer. There was a restaurant with outside seating only 1/2 block away so we headed there. We all had sore feet and ankles from the descent into town. When we got there, Shaun met some other people he knew: English Rob and Aussie Paul which meant that Megan was there as well. She showed up a few minutes later and I was right. Not only had she forgotten who I was, she had transferred my name to the 2 of diamonds (which is the card that gets left out of the deck when playing 3 handed games, and everyone she has met since us has been placed on Kings or Aces. Shaun, Pam, and George were still secure on the Queen of Spades.
Rob and Michele showed up after a bit. Michele had taken a slight tumble and hurt her pride. She was fine, but was just hiking slower than usual to be extra cautious.
Pam and I went back to the refuge to get caught up on some little things (blogging, journaling, etc). I headed down to the common area while she was gathering her stuff. I ran into Veronic and Alex who had started the same day we did. We talked for a bit. Pam came down after she had talked to our other roommate who was from Germany. It’s still neck and neck between the Germans and Aussies for the Camino attendance award.
Shaun made it in just before curfew. We were afraid we might have to ground him for staying out so late but he got in time to see the lights shut off.