Monday, May 23, Day 1 On The Camino

Today was the first day on the Camino de Santiago. We started early in the morning and stepped out into the streets along with many other pilgrims carrying their backpacks. You could almost feel the excitement in the air and from the greetings from the other trekkers.

I had decided at the last minute to take the Wheelie instead of just carrying a backpack. I did, however, pack all my gear as lightweight as possible and placed it in a backpack, and then placed it into the Wheelie.
Before we left Saint Jean we went to a small sandwich shop and had the owner make us individual fresh sandwiches for our pilgrim’s lunches because there was only one place to eat on this portion of the Camino. But there is generally no need to carry food as there are little shops and restaurants all along the Camino that specialize in supplying the pilgrims, something that has been done for hundreds of years.

It was fairly cold and cloudy as though it might rain. It was interesting to see some of the people already struggling at the beginning and less than one mile out of town.

The view from the road was very beautiful and you could see Saint Jean in the distance as the road started to climb.

About two miles from town the trail turned onto a steep dirt path. It changed from a fairly easy walk for me with the Wheelie to a little bit of a challenge pulling it over ruts, rocks, and gravel. Later I noticed that the trail came back onto the asphalt road, and though it was longer, the road may have been easier for me.

After about three miles we came to a lone hostel and small restaurant where many of the trekkers stopped to eat and fill up water. Some actual stayed the night there and started from this point, and at the end of the day I see why.

The Camino stayed on the road for several more miles and the whole time going through beautiful areas of rolling hills and what appeared to be pasture land.

We stopped to eat lunch and had sat down for less than fifteen minutes when it began to rain. You could see all the pilgrims, along with us, scrambling to put on their rain gear. It never rain hard, but it rained a little on and off most of the day.

Then we hit it, the dirt trail turnoff that went straight uphill over grass, deep ruts, and large rocks. It was a lot of work pulling the Wheelie uphill with all the obstacles, and it was the first time I questioned bringing it.

Going up the hill looked like the old photos of the Klondike gold rush where you could see the line of miner, but instead of miners it was a line of trekkers.

Throughout the day on the Camino it seemed like a back and forth with the other trekkers. Some stopping to rest as we passed them, and then inturn they might passed us as we rested. The line of trekkers thinned out and spread out after this pass. The pilgrims were a combination of people of all ages, but I’d say the majority were over forty to fifty, and some under twelve, and even some into their seventies.

The next water fountain was a nonconspicuous spot that was actually the border between France and Spain. After that point the greeting from others was “Bueno Camino.”

We finally reached the peak and we’re happy to finally be going downhill, but, and that’s always the problem, the buts! Downhill it was, but very steep and slippery. Someone told me the downhill grade at points were 20-25 degrees. It was not only steep and slippery, but muddy in place like it had been most of the trail today.

We finally made it to Roncesvalles late in the afternoon and had been trekking for about nine hours, covered a little over fifteen miles, and had an elevation gain of about 4,500′.

The trail comes into Roncesvalles at the Albergue (hostel) Colegiata, which I had been a little apprehensive about. It is run by the Catholic Church and was, and is, a convent and school. There are few place to stay in Roncesvalles and I figured it would be a fast introduction into the hostels along the Camino. I had heard it sleeps up to 300 people and at peak season they might place you in the basement and even set up tents. As tired as we were we didn’t care.

We walked into the huge building from the back side and found a throne of people standing in line to check in. I was a bit of a shock how many people were there, but it turns out there are pilgrims on foot, bikes, and even cars that are allowed to stay there.

The checkin area was shockingly modern and spotless. It is run by the Catholic Church but is run entirely by volunteers from the Netherlands. They are there for only two weeks and most are former pilgrims. Checkin was fairly quick and obviously well organized. I told the desk clerk there were three of us, so she put us on the third floor. At least it wasn’t the basement, or as some say, “The Dungeon.”

We had to take our shoes off and walk up the three floors. Ouch!

I was pleasantly surprised how nice our sleeping area and the whole floor was. It was all new and again, spotless. Monica and I had a two bed cubical and Jen had a cubical to herself. Clean sheets and pillow cases, and absolutely spotless modern bathrooms. All the hot water for a shower, and wifi! It was about 12 euros (about $13) per person, and 10 euros for a pilgrim diner.

One of the attendants walked through the dorm and announced a short special 30 minute mass for the blessing of the pilgrims and we decided to go for the experience, and we were glade we did. The beautiful church was large and fairly full. At the end the priest asked the pilgrims, whether Catholic or other religions, and of no faith, to come up to the front. Everything had been in Spanish, but individual blessings were in over 8-10 languages, including Korean and Japanese. I have to say it was very special, whether you are spiritual or not.

After the pilgrim diner most pilgrims were already asleep before the lights went out at ten. I have to admit that as physically prepared as I thought I was, the day had been a challenge for me. I was ready to get back into the right biological time clock for this time zone and sleep the night through as tired as I felt.

Best wishes to all,

Ted