In Pamplona

We arrived in the city about 3:15 and by 4:15 Lee was in the albergue and I had bailed to a hotel.  It's nice enough, with a great bathroom and air conditioning, which is quite nice when the temps are over 100. 

But alas, my dreams of sleeping in till 9 will not come to pass. The 1:30 fast train tomorrow is full. Only seats available are on the slow 8:30 train. So that means that I'll have to be up a little after 7. Still, as compared to my 5 am wake-up these past few weeks, this should feel luxurious 

So who goes to Pamplona and goes to her hotel room at 7 pm to use wifi, have a glass of wine, and ice her somewhat sore knee?  ME!  I did get a little walk around the beautiful centro histórico, but I realized today that I was kind of dragging and running out of gas. My theory is that some pampering and a day off walking will help bring back that zoom zoom zoom. 

Pamplona is gearing up for San Fermines, better known in USA as the running of the Bulls, but we will be gone tomorrow and will miss all the hoopla. It's a crazy fiesta. Let's hope no one gets killed this year. 

Tomorrow we will take a train to Ponferrada, that's where the Camino de Invierno begins. The last time I walked this route I did it in 10 days, but later realized I had walked a couple of days over 40 km. I'm done with 40 km days for now, so we will be recalculating stages, so that I'll arrive in Santiago on July 13 or 14.  Fingers crossed that the temperature drops below 40. This is not conducive to walking. 

On our way to Pamplona!

We have finished the Camino Aragonés and have joined the Camino Frances. We saw more people in five minutes than I've seen walking since June 4. 

We left Monreal at about 5:45 because the forecast is for 40 ( which is, to be exact, 104 Fahrenheit). The first 14 kms to the little town of Tiebas were  up and down along the side oh a hill. 

Then we could see Pamplona in the distance and knew we were close to Puente la Reina. 

But first, the camino passes the XII century octagonal church of Eunate. For unknown reasons, it was closed. But still beautiful outside. Many theories on why it was built in an octagonal shape, but nothing is really known. 

From there, 5 km to Puente la Reina with its beautiful bridge.  

Now we have a half hour wait till the bus comes to take us into Pamplona. I have made the reckless decision to sleep in a pension or hotel tonight. I'm just going to walk into the first nice looking place I see and pull out my woefully under-utilized credit card. So that tomorrow when I wake up at 5 am, I can just roll over and go back to sleep. 

Very hot

Leaving at 6 am is sensible when you've got 28 kms and the temps are in the mid-high 90s. We had about 18 kms to the only town on the day's walk and made good time there. No sun for the first couple of hours, and that really makes a difference. Lee is a faster walker so once we are out of town, we both settle into our paces, which means she always gets longer rests than I do since she waits for me. :-) 

The first 18 were really nice, through pine forests and far from the highway. 

After our rest stop, in the welcoming town of Izco, 

the camino turned into a big wide ag track through harvested wheat fields.

It was ok so long as it was unpaved, but big sections were hard asphalt and I would just let out a huge scream of anguish when the pavement appeared. Very cathartic, and no one was anywhere near me to hear it. 

The last few kms elicited another scream from me, this one of joy, when I saw that the last two kms were not only on dirt but in the SHADE!!! It was fabulous. 

We're in the small, pretty prosperous town of Monreal. The albergue has 21 beds, which is a pretty optimistic number since I think we will be alone here. 

We've had what is clearly our worst meal of the camino, though we are not yet sure what they will charge us. 

Tomorrow's high is expected to hit 40 (that's 104 Fahrenheit) so we will leave no later than 6. 

A short day to Sanguesa

We We had breakfast today in one of the two standing buildings in Ruesta, paying due homage to the people honored there, the Republican prisoners reputedly used to build the dam. 

The walk was short and sweet, only 23 km, with a stop in the middle in a really pretty little town in the hills. 

Bad picture but pretty little plaza. 

We are so lucky that there are well-spaced towns along this route with cafes for cold drinks or coffee. 

Today's walk was about 6 km up on a forest track, then about 4 km up and doesn't to Undues, where we had a break, then 14 or so really sunny and not too interesting kms into the town of Sanguesa, where there are a few really beautiful churches and official buildings. 

The albergue is municipally owned and operated. Spotlessly clean, nice bath and showers and clean sheets for each bed!!!  We could wash our clothes in an honest to goodness washing machine for 2€. We have had a good menu del dia and will now walk around to visit a few nice old (siglo XII-XIV) churches. 

All is well and we are very happy to be here. 

In a town in ruins

Today we had a 29 km day. We all ate breakfast together in the albergue. By 7 am we were on the road. Another off road day for the most part, with views of the Pyrenees every time we remembered to turn around. 

We had a coffee break in a town about 18 km beyond Arres. It was a nice hill town so up we went. 

Lots of political signs protesting the enlargement of the reservoir that's very close. The government wants to enlarge it so they can send water south to irrigate "campos de golf," according to some of the locals. 

We are now in a town with 250 houses totally in ruins, but with an albergue owned and operated by the CGT. It's an anarchist labor union that emerged during the Franco years. First time I've been checked into an albergue by an anarchist!!!  

The town was condemned back in the 50s when the government condemned the town to build the reservoir. At first they only condemned the agricultural lands and left the town alone. But since the residents were all farmers using those lands, they were able to convince the government to buy their houses as well. So the result is this abandoned town. 

We have talked with a lot of townspeople along the way and I've been surprised to hear that many local people still don't know the fate of their loved ones in the Civil War. Seems to me there needs to be some official government action to help these people know more than that their grandpa was put in a truck and never returned. 

Tomorrow off to a bigger city, Sanguesa, but since it's Sunday all will be closed. We are well but I have to admit I am getting s bit tired. I need a rest perhaps.

In a town in ruins

Today we had a 29 km day. We all ate breakfast together in the albergue. By 7 am we were on the road. Another off road day for the most part, with views of the Pyrenees every time we remembered to turn around. 

We had a coffee break in a town about 18 km beyond Arres. It was a nice hill town so up we went. 

Lots of political signs protesting the enlargement of the reservoir that's very close. The government wants to enlarge it so they can send water south to irrigate "campos de golf," according to some of the locals. 

We are now in a town with 250 houses totally in ruins, but with an albergue owned and operated by the CGT. It's an anarchist labor union that emerged during the Franco years. First time I've been checked into an albergue by an anarchist!!!  

The town was condemned back in the 50s when the government condemned the town to build the reservoir. At first they only condemned the agricultural lands and left the town alone. But since the residents were all farmers using those lands, they were able to convince the government to buy their houses as well. So the result is this abandoned town. 

We have talked with a lot of townspeople along the way and I've been surprised to hear that many local people still don't know the fate of their loved ones in the Civil War. Seems to me there needs to be some official government action to help these people know more than that their grandpa was put in a truck and never returned. 

Tomorrow off to a bigger city, Sanguesa, but since it's Sunday all will be closed. We are well but I have to admit I am getting s bit tired. I need a rest perhaps.

Some pictures of today's albergue

Leaving the Pyrenees behind

Yesterday was the day of the patron saint of Jaca, Santa Orosia. We arrived just as the procession was ending, which meant we arrived just as the drinking was starting. It was a festive afternoon. We ate lunch in a vegetarian restaurant, then spent some time washing clothes, etc, and finally took a walk around in early evening.  We knew there would be outdoor concerts all night and fireworks at midnight, so when we went to bed we had to choose between fresh air and more noise or closed window and less noise. We took the latter choice, and I slept all night. Lee slept less well. 

By 6:30 today (Friday) we were on the road again. We had a 25 km day to the tiny town of Arres, where there is a donativo albergue. This means that it is staffed by a volunteer hospitalero, who cleans and makes us dinner and breakfast. We leave a "donativo", the amount that we choose to give. That concept throws a lot of Americans for a loop, but I now get it, I think. Just pay it forward.  Last night's peregrinos left money to pay for your stay, so you do the same for tomorrow's. 

The walk more or less paralleled the national highway, but they did a great job of keeping us off road. We were either on a path along the river (on the right side of the highway) 

or on a path along the hillside (on the left side of the highway). 

And the towns were very well placed, since we had a coffee break town about 15 kms from our starting point. 

The last three kms were up a hill through scrub oak, always with view in the distance of the disappearing Pyrenees. The town is very pretty. 

We are now in town, perched on a ledge in town sipping a cold beer, icing my shins, and gazing out at the fields and mountains below. 

In Jaca

 Mir was a very pretty walk today, leaving the Pyrenees behind. 

Normally, it's a very fun thing to arrive in a town that is celebrating its patron saint day. Today, not so much. This is the first big city we've been in on a weekday, and I was hoping to buy a new pair of socks (one pair wearing through) and a new spork (duct tape is a miracle worker but it doesn't hold two halves of a spork together). And, to add insult to injury, the much anticipated Romanesque museum and cloister is closed because of the holiday. Grrrr.

But I am still very happy and grateful. Here I am in Jaca with a full belly and getting ready to go see how the towm celebrates its patron saint day.  Tomorrow a medium day ( we think it's about 29 km) with not much elevation gain --and we are going to one of the most loved albergues on the Camino Aragonés, in the small town of Arres. 

From one camino to the other

Today we finished up the Camino Catalan as we went up steeply to and then down steeply (oh wow VERY steeply) from San Juan de la Peña, where we reached the Camino Aragonés. The only problem was that we intersected with this Camino about 50 km down from the Pyrenees pass, the Puerto de Somport, on the French border, where the Camino Aragonés officially begins. 

Not wanting to miss a day or two at the start of the camino, primarily because it starts high in the mountains, we decided to make our way up to the top. But how?  We knew there was a bus at 5 pm, but since it was only 10 in the morning, that seemed silly. We tried hitching for a few minutes on the highway, but that wasn't too promising. 

So we went into the town of Santa Cilia De Jaca on the theory that if we waved someone down and asked for help, we'd be more likely to get somewhere. And sure enough, the first car we flagged stopped. We explained our situation, and he took us all the way up to the border, even though he had only been planning to go about 15 km. 

All the way up, we had a guided commentary-- when this ski resort opened, where the army was putting in installations, and most interesting, how someone had recently found in the station of Canfranc a huge packet of papers recording all the gold the Nazis smuggled through France to Spain ("neutral" in WW2) and then used to buy military equipment. 

By noon, we were ready to walk again. We decided to go 8 km to Canfranc Station, where we are now in an albergue. Absolutely gorgeous walk today. One of those days where you give thanks over and over for the privilege of doing this. 

View of the Pyrenees from near our albergue.

How amazing is this???

Finslly in the mountains!

RWow is all I can say. I will try to post pictures but this wifi is so weak it probably won't send them. 

It was a long day today but almost all of it was in the mountains. About 35 km, more than we had planned. But we had stops in two  little towns slong the way. 

When we arrived at our albergue for the night we had a late lunch and then the owner offered to drive is up so we could visit  San Juan de la Peña today rather than have to wait till it opens at ten tomorrow morning. We're about an hour and a half walk below the monastery so having to wait till ten would have been a pain. This was wonderful. We had a nice long visit to this amazing 10-12th century monastery built right into the rocks. Then a walk back down to our albergue (7 km down hill and with no pack is like a walk in the park!). 

Tomorrow we join the camino aragonés. We will have to figure out some logistics but it should be more of the same beautiful Pyrenees scenery. 

 

40 km to Sarsamarcuello.

You will probably not find this town on a map. About ten houses, an albergue with 8 beds, and a "social club" where they serve beer and potato chips. And three or four residents hang out. 

We left Huesca around 6 am. No stop till 26 km, where we found a bar for coffee. And we were in cherry country.  One woman told me that they have 5,000 trees, all picked by hand by 13 people. 

We then had ten kms to the town of Loarre, which sits below the incredibly perched castle of Loarre. 

In that town, we bought bread, tuna, and olives for lunch. And yoghurt and a few pastries (homemade gifts of the bread man) for breakfast. Dinner will be a beer and potato chips. (Honest, I usually eat better than this). 

Turning 17 km into 22

Well we had a very short day planned, so we left Pueyo de Fananas at a leisurely hour and pace. Somehow we missed an arrow and wound up walking in the wrong direction. Yes, I know, I have a GPS but I have messed it up somehow and can't find the tracks I loaded. 

So we found our way back to the Camino the old fashioned way -- flag down a car and ask for help. And soon we were pointed in the right direction and on our way to Huesca. 

The mountains were almost always in view and we can across an old shepherds' hut that had been used by POUM (anarchists?) in the Spanish civil war. (Their initials engraved at the entrance):

So even with our 5 km error, we arrived at the albergue before noon and had a long wait till the person in charge came down to open up. But hey, we're not walking. 

Tomorrow is another long day-- 40 km according to official tallies, but they are usually short. In any case we will have a good rest today and be ready to go tomorrow. 

P.s. if you saw The Way, these bales may remind you of a funny scene: 

Through wheat fields with snow capped mountains in the back

On Saturday we left around 6:30, knowing we only had about 30 km for the day. For the first 17 km or so, we had nice views of snow-capped Pyrenees, which just don't show up in a picture because of the distance. 

The first part of the walk was either off road through fields or alongside an irrigation canal. The first town reported as having a bar was 12 km from where we started. We were there at 9, read the sign on the door that says "open at 9:00," waited a few minutes and went on. It was only 5 km more (almost all on asphalt, though) to a small town, Antillon, (140 inhabitants) with a municipally owned "social club", which means there is a meeting place in town. Luckily it was open so we had our coffee there. This is real luxury because with my electric coil, we always have s cup before we leave the albergue. 

From Antillon, we lost our view of the snow capped mountains and were clearly  in the Pre-Pyrenees, FINALLY, and after 10 more km in the sun but on nice ag tracks through fields with lots of harvesting going on, we arrived at our destination. 

Pueyo de Fananas is reported to have both an albergue and a club social where we could have a meal. Good thing, because we are virtually out of food.  Upon arrival, we heard the bad news that the club social had closed abruptly three days ago, leaving the town with no place serving food. The hospitalera very nicely brought us a loaf of bread and a box of eggs and sold us two beers for a euro, so we put our cooking skills to use and made an omelette sandwich. 

Like so many of these tiny Spanish rural towns, this one seems to be just barely alive. But we did meet a set of two month old twins as well as three or four children, so maybe there is still hope for the future of Pueyo de Fananas. 

We are set for the day, though I'm not sure how we'll fill the time till nightfall, but maybe a nap is in order. It would be my first this Camino. 

P. S. Thankfully there is no need to discuss blisters or other foot ailments (knock on wood). I have had two tiny very ones on my toes but feel extremely lucky that I have not had any real problems yet. 

We walked 42! (or maybe a little more)

This was a very long day. I am so happy to be in the little town of Berbegal, even though it sits on the top of a hill and it was so hard to pull my tired body up those last few steps. 

We left at 6 am. By ten we had walked 20 km to Monzon, a bustling little city with a castle on top of the hill.

We then had a long coffee break. In these pictures you can see what goes on above and below the table. 

After our coffee break, we knew we had another 21 km. We were able to refill our water bottles in a town about 7 km further on, and then there was nothing until Berbegal, our resting place for the night. 

About 5 km outside Berbegal, there's a little Romanesque ermita, Santa Agueda. Lee decided to keep walking, but I realized that if I passed by without walking around and at least looking at the apse and the doorway, this would be the first Romanesque building I had ever, on any camino, passed without stopping. So I stopped, and then wound up taking the Roman  Road into town instead of the camino. But I made it!  

By 2:45 we were both sitting down in the shade at the municipal pools, where the guy in charge of the albergue works. He took us to the albergue with its nice bathroom and kitchen with WASHING MACHINE!!!!!  

We've had lunch and are now sitting outside across the way from the town's Romanesque church. Very nice life. 

Thanks to this long slog, we now have one average (28 Km) and then one very short (17kn) day into Huesca. 

Yesterday at this time I told myself that tomorrow at this time I would (hopefully) have this long day behind me. And I do!  And life is good. 

The view from up here. You probably can't see the snow covered Pyrenees in the background, but it's gorgeous.