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Day 1 – SJPDP to Vierge de Baikorri

Distance Today: 7.3 mi.
Distance Camino2017: 7.3 mi.

We Left SJPDP at 6:15 am. thru the Spanish Gate opening onto the main medieval route crossing the Pyrenees commonly known as “la Route Napoleon “. The paved road became very steep immediately as it passed thru some residential areas and likely discouraged any pilgrim who had second thoughts about taking on the Camino Frances. The road climbed for what seemed like miles but actually a few hundred yards and then flattened out somewhat as it passed through some rolling hills and small farms.

Shortly after daybreak

After initial climb, level roads thru local farms

Still relatively flat

Still flat, pilgrim up ahead sharing road w/auto

Along the way we met a young couple from Madrid walking to Burgos… she has a friend attending UNC. Jim walked at their slightly faster pace for few minutes then dropped back wishing them a “buen Camino”.

All too soon, after a big bend in the narrow road the paved road became very steep and began an aggressive climb up into the Pyrenees.

Steep incline beginning

Early incline before very steep switchback

Steep climb = better views

A lot steeper than it looks!

With little or no relief, we climbed upward for nearly 2.5 miles before leaving the paved surface into mountain side pasture land.

Leaving pavement into pastureland

Steep path with beautiful views

Our first try with new selfie gadget

Linda struggling with steep climb

More beautiful views justify the climb

The pasture land offered no relief in the climb so we stopped for a breakfast snack after 1.5 hours into the walk, under one of the few trees along the way. We rewarded ourselves (and our tiring bodies) 10-15 minutes to share a nectarine and a small piece of quiche. (We sat on the same log and rock that beckoned us to take a break in 2012.)

Linda found a rock as we rejoined pavement

We moved on as the path ultimately rejoined the pavement a half-mile later at a potable water spicket and continuing another 3/4 mile until the road crested and sympathetically leveled and gradually descended a few hundred yards to the Orisson Refuge.

We were not alone as we struggled these first 4.5 miles of the Camino Frances, considered the most difficult of the 500 mile journey. Everyone we encountered this morning, regardless of age, sex or physical conditioning just smiled and shook their heads at the nearly overwhelming challenge we were experiencing. Our pace and others included a lot of stopping every 20-30 paces throughout the steep climb. But we still averaged about 2 mph. One measure of the steepness was Linda’s Fitbit which indicated she had climbed 251 floors!

Approaching Refuge Orisson

Well deserved break at Orisson

Pyrenees Overlook at Orisson – Linda seated right corner

When we arrived at Refuge Orrison at 8:45, we picked a table on the patio overlooking down on and across the Pyrenees. We removed our packs and changed from walking boot/shoes to sandals to let our feet cool and recover a bit. We further rewarded ourselves with cafe con leche, basque cake and then hot chocolate.

A lady from N. California stopped by our table and Jim helped her by explaining her hydration pack operation. She asked about how we found places to stay, reservations, etc and we shared some of our experiences and gave her some suggestions before she moved on with her “group”.

While we enjoyed being off our feet, the ever changing skies clouded up and it got cooler so and we moved inside the Orisson Refuge restaurant area. We charged phones/cameras, made blog/journal entries and otherwise relaxed until lunch.

So far, today’s experience on the most difficult stage of the Camino Frances was hard, without a doubt, but didn’t seem more difficult that our first time in 2012. It may have been a little easier because we knew what to expect. Since we are 5 years older than during our previous trek, we are encouraged about what lies ahead.

More gradual inclines as we neared Vierge de Biakorri

Vierge de Biakorri up close

Vierge de Biakorri overlooking the French side of Pyrenees

We finished our breakfast quiche for lunch and continued today’s walk to the Vierge de Baikorri at 12:15. Though still steep, the walk was not as difficult as the one to Orisson. Occasional level sections gave us some relief and the inclines were about half. We arrived at the Vierge at 1:45 pm, as the clouds/fog rapidly moved in. We took some photos and then sat and relaxed, while waiting for a shuttle to take us back to SJPDP.

We’re feeling great, for sure tired, but actually relieved, having successfully completed our first day of Camino 2017 and loo

Waiting for shuttle to SJPDP

Our shuttle picking up additional fares at Orisson.

king forward to Day 2.

The shuttle arrived at 2:30 pm and we were back in our hotel room, taking showers by 2:45.

Getting to St.Jean Pied de Port

Backpack secured in dufflebag

It’s Thursday, July 27 and after months of planning and preparation, we are finally on our way.

This morning we drove to Jim’s daughter’s home, some 70 miles away and on the way to Charlotte International Airport (CLT). We had lunch with Beth and her family and left our car at her house to store for us until we return. She then drove us the remaining 20 miles to CLT and dropped us off at the departure area.

After a slight struggle with the ever changing check-in kiosks, we checked our duffle bags which contained only our backpacks, cleared security without incident with no carry-ons, only fanny packs, and by 1:45 p.m. proceeded to our gate to relax and chill until time to board our 4:55 p.m. flight to Madrid.

While waiting, Jim used a recently updated American Airlines app to track baggage and was relieved that it showed both our bags as “loaded” on our aircraft/ flight. This was later confirmed when our bags, in fact were waiting for us in the MAD baggage collection turnstyle.

The seven and one-half hour flight to Madrid (MAD) began with a 5:01 p.m. takeoff. The flight was smooth and uneventful, including a tasty (free) dinner with wine followed by a nice breakfast just prior to landing. We touched down at MAD at 6:27 a.m. (12:27 a.m. EDT) in the dark.

Several other flights arrived with us so it took about 45 minutes to clear customs, but our duffles were waiting for us when we got to the baggage area.

We stashed our duffles into our backpacks, rearranged a few things, donned our packs and made our way to the Renfe Cercanias (C1) ticket area in the T4 terminal, where we obtained free train tickets to Atocha (the main train station in downtown Madrid) by scanning our already on-line purchased tickets for Atocha to Pamplona.

We boarded C1 at 8:30 and arrived at Atocha at 9:00 a.m. and began our absorption into Spanish culture by ordering a brunch of tostada, cafe con leche and freshly squeezed Valencia orange juice.

We boarded the train to Pamplona about 11:20 a.m. which pulled out of Atocha station a few minutes later. The 3 hour ride from Madrid to Pamplona revealed an interestingly, sparsely populated countryside colored tan, gray and brown by dry, scrubby vegetation, washes, canyons and hills and frequent castle ruins appearing in elevated, strategic overlooks. Occasional small rancheros and villages with surrounding vineyards, orchards and livestock dotted the otherwise barren landscape. The countryside became increasingly greener as we advanced in a northeasterly direction entering the region of Navarre and approaching Pamplona.

Our train arrived in Pamplona promptly at 2:40 p.m. We took a taxi to the very nice Hotel Catedral (our third stay since 2014) and checked in (75€).

Once in the room, we triaged backpack contents, collected the duffle bags & warmer clothes we won’t need until Sept/Oct and stuffed them into a laundry bag we found in our motel room. At 4:00 p.m., typical reopening times for businesses after lunch break, we ventured out into the city to get treikking poles for Linda, mail our “extra” items to our reserved hotel in Leon and buy two bus tickets to SJPDP (2×22€) for tomorrow morning.

Each task was easily accomplished as planned. On our return from the bus station, we tested both our ATM cards, successfully, confirming a working source to replenish the cash needs for our Camino.

Before returning to our hotel, we stopped at Bar Gaucho, our favorite place for “pintxos” (the Basque name for tapas) and had two delicious selections and a glass of wine… for a light supper (10€). By 6:30 p.m. we were spent after two long days of travel and not much sleep.

Walking back to our hotel… Catedral in background

The street where the bulls run every July

Plaza de Castillo near our hotel

Monument to Fueros of Navarre

So we headed back to the hotel and crashed for the evening.

It’s Saturday, July 29, the third day of travel to get to SJPDP. With a much needed good night of sleep, we donned our backpacks, left our hotel at 9:00 a.m. and walked the 20 minutes to the bus station. Our bus departed at 10:00 for the trip to SJPDP .

The 50 mile drive up, over and back down the Pyrenees Mountains to Saint Jean Pied de Port, France took 95 minutes. We exited the bus, put on our packs and walked a few hundred yards to Hotel Itzalpea (70€), our base for the next two nights.

Our host is a delightful young French lady who had a nice room with a private bathroom ready for us to occupy immediately, 3 hours before normal check-in time! We took a few minutes to settle in before walking across the street into the medieval town to find a restaurant to quieten our growling tummies. We struggled initially with the menu which was a French/Basque hybrid, but a young lady (with a man old enough to be her grandfather) seated at an adjacent table, helped Linda avoid ordering a local version of chitlins.

After a filling lunch we walked up the steep Rue de la Citadelle to the pilgrim’s hospitality office to have our credential’s stamped and dated, verifying our official start of the Camino Frances.

While we waited in line, in walked the young lady who helped us at lunch accompanied by (as we soon learned) her grandfather. The two had arrived yesterday in St Jean via bicycle from Tours France. Tours is one of three other French Caminos that merge with the Camino Frances. Their bicycle journey from Tours to SJPDP was over 500 miles .

We chatted until our turn with the “credentials stamper” and wished them “buen Camino”. An hour or so later we observed them leaving town on their bikes, beginning their return trip back to Tours.

We spent the rest of the afternoon making final preparations by getting our packs re-organized for the walk tomorrow, picked up some breakfast snacks for tomorrow, napped a bit, had a light dinner and got to bed by 8:30p.m., setting the alarm for 5:30.

Getting Ready

Preparations for our Camino 2017 became serious, when we gave each other Osprey Atmos 50L backpacks for Christmas 2016. Our new packs are slightly larger than our old ones, but about the same weight. We got the larger sizes to allow for extra room for packing and easier retrieving and repacking its contents… an issue we struggled with on our first Camino.

Jim’s 50L Osprey

Linda’s 50L Osprey

In January we bought new Lowa boots (Jim) and Keen “fishing” sandals (Linda) to replace identical footware that were badly worn from nearly 1000 miles of walking over the past 4 years. We continue to break them in and are now walking at least 2 miles every day until leaving for the Camino.

Jim’s Lowa boots

Linda’s Keen fishing sandals

Taking care of our feet is paramount to avoiding typical issues from walking 5-10 miles daily for 60+ consecutive days. Building on our experiences with socks & blister prevention/maintenance on our Camino of 2012-2015, we have confirmed and in some cases upgraded socks, foot lubrication and moisturing product as well as bandage material.

We each inventoried everything in our packs upon arriving in Santiago in 2015. This list became our start point for backpack contents for 2017. After minor deletions and additions, we’ve packed our backpacks and taken a few walks of 2-6 miles. Both packs are quite easy to manage and are just slightly over the recommended 10% of body weight at 18lbs and 22 lbs, respectively. Hydration pack water will add an additional 2-4 lbs of weight as we begin walking each day.

Linda’s and Jim’s poles

Different adjusting design

Even though we purchased a set of poles to share on our first Camino, we assumed they would be inconvenient to carry and not worth the effort to use. As we ascended the Pyrennees in late July 2012, the poles didn’t seem to help much on the steep climbs. But the 8 mile descent into Roncesvalles began to take a toll on our knees and we quickly discovered how to use a single pole to cushion the impact of the steep downhill walk. It rained that day and the single pole also aided our balance and footing. We decided that if one pole could make that much difference, on subsequent walks we would both carry a set of poles to use.

In 2014 we began our Camino in Pamplona each with a set of poles. They were adjustable and made of fiberglass and were bought on sale at Costco. While Linda initially used her poles mainly for balance on uneven terrain, Jim used his not only for balance but soon discovered on especially long walks, fatigue on knees and feet were reduced when using the poles for support. He also noticed that when the pole length was adjusted to cause his arms to form a 90 degree angle as poles made contact with the ground, his walking posture improved, noticeably reducing stress on the lower back.

(Our experiences have been confirmed by several published studies revealing that poles can reduce the compression stress on knees by 5-25% with the greatest impact being for downhill walking.)

After walking about 170 miles, one of Jim’s poles broke. The adjusting mechanism failed and would no longer hold the pole at a given length. Without both poles, the stress of walking 8-12 miles a day was dramatically increased. We kept a lookout for a place to buy a replacement pole and finally found a small store in Castrojeriz. The owner happened to have one set of poles which Jim quickly bought for 39€.

That afternoon, Jim got familiar with the new poles and found them to be superior to the old ones. First, the shafts were stronger but not significantly heavier (alumnium vs fiberglass) and the length adjustment was a better design and faster and easier to change while walking.

The next morning as we continued our walk, with a big smile, Jim began using his new poles and continued using them for the remaing 110 miles in 2014, the final 210 miles in 2015. They show little if any signs of wear and the adjusting mechanism is like new. The poles are Altus brand, but not available for purchase in the US, including the internet. Similar poles are available in the US at a cost of more the $100! We plan to buy a set of these poles for Linda at a store that carries Altus brand in Pamplona on our way to Saint-Jean-Pied de Port, France (SJPDP).

Our original plan for getting to Spain was to take Uber to the Greenville airport (GSP) and fly Greenville> Philadelphia(PHL)> Madrid(MAD), leaving our car at home to avoid long term parking fees (~$500 for 82 days).

Two weeks prior to departure, the baggage handlers, cleaners and customer service agents at PHL called for a strike against American Airlines. At the last minute, the strike was suspended as negotiations resumed.

Uncertainty in our logistics for the beginning of our trip is not a good thing. Most of Europe takes the month of August as a holiday. Thus, Europeans walking the Camino Frances on vacation must start their walk in late July or early August as the normal time to complete the 500 mile pilgrimage is 30-33 days. This creates a surge of pilgrims, overwhelming the limited accommodations for sleeping along the Camino.

Our plan to deal with this potential problem is to find and reserve hotel rooms and purchase tickets for our train and bus trip to SJPDP, as well as reserving rooms for the first 6 days of our walk. We completed this several weeks ago.

Consequently, any delays in our flight or baggage arriving in Madrid on schedule, will have disastrous repercussions on the beginning of our Camino.

So, we took immediate evasive action by calling American and changing our flight to originate in Charlotte(CLT) and to fly direct to Madrid… at an additional cost of $375 in re-ticketing fees. Also, to avoid airport long term parking fees, we will drive to Jim’s daughter’s home in Clover, SC, who has graciously agreed to give us a ride to CLT some 30 miles away and store our car in her driveway until we return in October.

Camino Frances 2017 – Our Way

In September 2015, we completed the Camino de Santiago de Compostela Frances, “Our Way”. But since our return home to South Carolina, the Camino has been gently summoning us to return, by persistently evoking our rich memories of the 500 mile pilgrimage.

So, while we two septuagenarians are still up to the task, we’ve re-scheduled a planned 2017 Alaska land/sea cruise for 2018 and booked our flight to Spain for late July.