Camino to Roncesvalles

The Albergue house rules were to make no sound until 6:45AM but I was awake by 4 AM. I was able to get ready without making any sound and waking up the three other bunkbed mates.

The breakfast was available exactly at 7 AM as promised and consisted of freshly baked bread, coffee, tea, cheese, Nutella, and jam. Basically a whole set of carbs and a boiled egg. I filled about one liter of tap water in the bladder, packed my backpack, walked over across the street to the pilgrim's office, weighed it and found it was 9.2 kg, approximately 20 pounds and the same official from yesterday said that it was relatively good.

The day started with 37 F, with bright and blue skies. I was out the door walking at 8AM. Right out of St Jean, there are two routes, one is mountainous and the other is on the highway.

Due to the snow, the mountain route was closed and anyone found taking it was liable for a 12,000€ fine. My newfound friend from Washington DC and I started together and at the point of making the turn to avoid the mountain route, we heard another pilgrim asking us for the directions. He was a firefighter from near Belfast and he started walking with us for the rest of the day.

Walking and swapping stores, we walked along the highway passing many green vistas, small waterfalls, and a babbling creek. In about five miles, we crossed the border and entered Spain from the French territory.

I could not find my headphones and therefore couldn't answer phone calls. I was worried that I may have mistakenly sent them in the package that was destined for Santiago de Compostela to reduce my backpack's weight. A quick Apple 'findmy' revealed they were somewhere in my backpack, to my great relief.

The other thing I realized was that the belt which I sent away in the package was doing a good job holding my pants in place. I found a ln alternative solution to use the backpack hip-belt and thereby solving the problem.

The highway walk consisted of many switchbacks and invariably the wind picked up when walking uphill, which made it very cold and I kept putting on the down jacket. After walking for a bit, it was too hot and I had to remove the jacket.

In a couple of hours, we came across a good coffee shop favored by many pilgrims. It also had a grocery store attached to get water or snacks. After leisurely having coffee, we restarted the walk. By now, we had walked 7 of the 17miles or so to Roncesvalles.

There was snow on the ground and on the distant hills. The highway was constantly in use by huge trucks, cars and recreational vehicles. Many motorists were mindful of the pilgrims giving us a wide berth, while some were dangerously close when passing us by.

The sights consisted of many hillsides with jungles, meadows, snowfields and most of the time they were completely empty.

About ten miles from the prior rest stop, I finally came to the highest point, Ibañeta at 1057m/3,467ft that signaled to me that the end of the day's hike was close.

Sure enough, walking a mile further, I saw the Roncesvalles church.

The church is massive and great stained glass windows.

Adjoining the church is the Refugio, the hostel that accommodates over 200 pilgrims the hosts are called Hospitaleros. They happened to be Dutch volunteers who work for 2 weeks and are relieved by other sets of Dutch volunteers.

After putting the shoes in designated shoe racks, paying for the hostel's nightly fees of 23€, I was given a bunk bed in a surprisingly clean and well-maintained dormitory. It had electrical outlets, showers, Wi-Fi, laundry, kitchen, vending machines, heated floors.

They also stamped my credential.

Having walked over six hours and burning 2,100 calories, I was famished and the pilgrim's dinner was in 4 hours. I ended up going to the same restaurant for a late lunch and was glad to see a menu of three courses.

The cafe served a delicious seafood soup, salmon and dessert. With coffee and water, the overall tab was 20€ and the meal was satisfying.

With a belly full, I took a multiple hours nap, met the friend for drink and attended the special mass at 8pm. After that, it was time to turn in.