Au Revoir France, Hola Espagne!

It was pouring rain the morning I left St. Jean. The evening before was dinner for four, but we each set out on our own in the morning. Josef departed first and I followed an hour behind. I hung out with Susan and ate a petite French breakfast before facing the mountain. It was a wise decision. Susan decided to start her Camino on Tuesday and Glenn, I'm quite positive, is the wisest among us. Though he expected to hit the trail around 0800, he'd pre-arranged to have his bags shipped to his next stop along the Camino.

I set out into the on again off again rain for a mostly uphill day. Nothing could have prepared me completely for the day ahead, but I was more prepared than not. Great gear, content on my own. The 1,429 meter climb was, in a word, grueling. The better part of the first twenty kilometers to Roncevalles, Spain was a steep incline; the last five meters, a steep, rocky, muddy decline. It was humbling. The rain, fog, and wind were relentless every step of the way; it was cathartic, exhilarating, intense.

Many Pilgrims started their treks Monday, mostly Americans and French. I was very pleased to see how many women were embarking on the Camino solo. From what I could tell it seemed to be as many women as men, more solo travelers than pairs or trios. As I was slowly walking through the Pyrenees, I was increasingly more grateful to be alone. I had the luxury of going completely at my own pace; no one pulling or pushing me along. I felt so free. The Camino is a well marked path, so I was not worried about getting lost. Every now and then I spied another Pilgrim which brought further comfort that I was on the right path.

Eight hours and nineteen miles later I arrived in Roncevalles. I checked into the municipal albergue along with just about every other Pilgrim. I paid twenty Euro for bed number 164 and a Pilgrim dinner. I left my boots in the boot room and made my way to the barracks-style room. Men and women were intermixed with four persons per open cube. I, along with everyone else was soaked. Where the rain didn't get me, sweat did. The only thing dry were my feet! The albergue provided laundry service for two Euro seventy and I took them up on it. I headed down to the wifi zone after depositing my laundry and ran into Josef, my Austrian friend. We embraced and celebrated our successful trek over a hot cup of coffee; just the three of us...Josef, me, and Google Translate. We decided to meet in the morning for breakfast and the next leg of our Camino.