Chapter 8; Roncesvailles to Zubiri

Yesterday was hard, and we are both very sore this morning. There no way around the reality that this is going to be a massive physical challenge. Now that the detours from the snow storm are behind us, we will be almost exclusively trail walking, which presents a different set of challenges. It’s absolutely incredible that so many people, with varying stages of fitness. Leaving Roncesvailles this morning and seeing how many KM’s we had to put behind us was pretty surreal – are we really going to walk all that?

This post will likely be short. As much as the previous days were social – with lots of new hellos and excellent conversation buddies – yesterday was quiet and for the most part Blake and I just had one another for company. We left in the early hours from the massive Manor at Roncesvailles with Gary, but he broke off about 5 KM in to keep pace with another man from Oz.

Lots to look at today. Our path ran through many small Spanish towns and villages. Across rivers and farmland. We found a signpost for a hotel Hemingway stayed in. Lots of aminals.

The route took us up the mountain side one again, and without Gary we followed the signposts and yellow arrows that lead the way. If you ever stumble on a crossroads or a intersection – look for the arrow or seashells – there’s always something to show the path.

We found a small bar at KM 10 and enjoyed both an espresso and a shot of something be translated to be “Fruit Liquor”…. It’s tasted much like Campari. Apparently his family has been making it here in Navarro Spain for hundreds of years.

After this – our picture taking became less and less frequent. From KM 15 on we got progressively more tired, and the descent in the last 3 KM before Zubiri was steep and treacherous.

We stayed at the beautiful Susia Albergue, and ate dinner. The company was nice, but Blake was falling asleep in his chair and almost immediately after dinner he went to bed. This Albergue was the second bunkbed situation we’ve had, which is a nice way to go. Whoever has the leg strength gets the top bunk. Them’s the rules.

I wasn’t far behind Blake and we slept very well, even if we were sore waking up. Today might be a bit hard