Things are heating up, a heatwave is blasting through northern Spain right now. But we only have four hours walking to do today. We set off at 715 and take the forest route when presented. Before the path splits, there's a wine fountain for pilgrims.
We set off relatively late today, as we only had 3 hours to walk to Estella, a small town. Our small group became a bit larger today, picking up a few people from the hostel on the hill. Early in the morning, one of our group goes to check out a young Chinese pilgrim sleeping in a covered area in a public space. She arrived very late the night before, after dinner, during a light summer thunderstorm.
Today was the longest walk of the trip, so I had to start early. I got woken up in the hostel around 530 am by some South Koreans also getting an early start, so decided to get out a little before my alarm. The weather is hotting up in Spain, with the afternoon getting up to around 36C today. Morning is much cooler so it pays to get as much hiking done before midday as possible.
The extra hour in the sun yesterday meant I had a "rest" day today, walking only 3 hours to get to Pamplona. Arriving at 1030, I bumped into an older Swedish lady Kirstin who I met on the train to the start.
The hostel wakes you up with lights on at 6am, then pumps out religious chanting 15 minutes later. Weirdest snooze ever.
started with the first train from Bayonne into the Pyrenees, a very beautiful ride along a river valley, with lush, verdant foothills sweeping past us. Credencíal (stamped pilgrim passport) acquired in the small village of Saint Jean Pied du Port, Lorenzo and I started out on a long 20 km upward march to the top of the Pyrenees, crossing into Spain on the first day. It's said to be the biggest day of the Camino Francés, and proved to be one of the harder days of walking I'd done so far. The climb was gradual, on fairly easy terrain, but quite relentless.