Day 1: May 9, 2016 St Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles

 Roncesvalles, Spain

May 9, 2016
St Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles
16.3 miles; 42,708 steps, 271 flights of stairs, 6:55hr

For those of you keeping track, I made it to Roncesvalles.

Elevation profile fom the day

This is one of the more notoriously difficult days of the Camino Frances; so, friends and family have asked me to check in. For those of you who have watched the movie The Way, this is where Martin Sheen's son becomes lost in the fog and then dies in a storm. This stage is challenging, because the path crosses the Pyrenees; so you are climbing up a mountain.  There are no villages where pilgrims can stop along the way; so no coffee breaks and the only food and water options are what you carry.

There is a long, steep ascent to a high pass which is exposed to weather. Today the forecasts threatened rain, wind and cold. So, I started out early and pushed hard in an attempt to beat any bad weather on the exposed portion of the pass. I made good time, but at some expense, and lessons learned. I didn't take any breaks and didn't eat any lunch. I didn't carry enough water and as a result I developed dehydration and a severe headache.

That said it was beautiful with St Jean and the Pyrenees shrouded in mist and fog.  There is a marker indicating the crossing into Spain, where I will spend the remaining days of this adventure.

 

At the top of the pass a wrong turn onto an alternate route took me down the very steep and muddy descent.  This route was specifically discouraged by the Pilgrim's Office in St Jean. In the past, I have often heard people saying that going down is harder than going up, and I have always assumed they were simply boasting to impress their friends with their cardiovascular fitness. But in this case, it was true: going down was actually much harder than the ascent, especially in the mud and rain (and a bit of snow).

As I write this, I feel better after a slightly cold shower and a short nap, but my legs are stiff and sore.

Tomorrow should be less stressful and more interesting. At least the guidebook predicts mostly a gentle downhill profile, with several towns for breaks. This is Hemingway country; so, there should be some cultural commentary along the way.

For now, I'm going for an early dinner and an early bed time.

My iPhone walking application tells me I took 40,609 steps and climbed the equivalent of 268 floors today. That's more than I have walked in quite some time