Chapter 7: Borda, Roncesvailles, Ireland and San Francisco.

Today started beautifully. We woke up and ate a hearty breakfast and were told that the walk down the mountain was too dangerous to take on due to ice and steep downhill inclines, so we were called a cab and waited an extra 45 minutes or so before we left.

Snow here is apparently a real issue. Anything more than a few inches shuts this place down, and multiple cabs tried getting up the hill before our host found one who could confirm they’d be able to make it up the hill. We still had a walk of about 3 kms before the cab could meet us. Shortly after breakfast, Becky, Gary and myself left promptly while the 4 Irish siblings and the wonderful Frenchman Marc stayed behind still getting ready. Gary, by this point feels not only more confident in the snow, but so confident that he felt compelled to stop our descent and wait for the Irish, who he worried would not be able to fare well in the snow.

We waited at a small building at the bottom of the hill from our lodging and the Irish weren’t long in coming down the hill. Marc was calmly and quietly following them, and told us later that they’d tried to tie garbage bags to their feet and after about 50 feet had realized it was far too slippery for that nonsense.

After a short and stunning walk down the mountainside, we stopped and waited for our cab. Marc, the Frenchman, was heading a different way and he waved us goodbye as he began his own trip to the next road.

After 10 minutes of waiting, a couple in a small van pulled by and asked if we were waiting for a cab. We loaded our things and headed down the hill towards the highway.

The van ride was only about 10 minutes and they dropped us off at the Spanish border and we headed into a small coffee shop where we ate and tried our best to find the route to Roncesvailles.

Our journey started after a quick coffee and a snack and we began the first 16 kms. It was cold, and almost exclusively uphill. Along the way we met a lovely woman who gave us her name, but I couldnt remember it, so I just kept calling her San Francisco, where she’s from. She didn’t seem to mind that.

The walk was cold but stunning. Tons of snow. Becky and I got pretty warm first, and San Francisco called us crazy. I will say we are far more well-adjusted to the cold than most people. We wear a long sleeve shirt at most, while some people are dressed to climb Everest. It’s a source for amazement from Gary and the Irish, who can’t understand how we arent constantly freezing.

We walked for a long time, around winding roads and switchbacks. Cars come really close to you, but they seem to be pretty used to walkers on the road because they find the room not to hit anyone.

The snow had pretty much reduced the paths to only rhe road. We sort of walked ahead and fell back off each other in pairs or groups, but taking the road added 5kms to our day, and so by the time we found Gary again, waiting up the road, we were all pretty tired. He was excited for a hot shower and a meal, and kept talking about being “knackered”, and “stuffed”. We all talked for about a kilometer until we rounded one magical corner and saw a huge stone building which was our next stop. We looked at Gary’s app and found we had walked 21.5 kms, which we all found impressive and surprising.

The auberge at Roncesvalles is an old castle, church attached, with a few restaurants that work on a ticket system, and open bunk-style beds. Not realizing quite how tired and hungry we actually were, Becky and I headed to dinner and didn’t socialize much. Our table was made up of a group that already knew each other and Gary had the next seating, so he had to wait to eat.

Dinner was fantastic, pea soup, chicken or fish and fries and an ice cream bar afterwards. It was phenomenal and Becky and I looked through our maps and elevation documents to see what tomorrow looked like. Tomorrow we head to Zubiri, another 24 or 25 kms from Roncesvalles.

Becky took laundry down to the basement where they actually wash and fold a few items for you (there are 200 or so people here, that’s crazy!) and I pretty much passed out. Tomorrow will be another long one but we’re looking forward to seeing how far we can make it.

Thanks again for reading and we will update you in the next town!