Camino: Roncesvalles to Zubiri

Never once have I woken up and said to myself, “Self, why don’t we walk 33,000 steps today?” I know that some of you probably have to do this for your job, but the distance between the altar and the little place where I stand to preach there’s no more than about 20 steps at most. My feet hurt. Tomorrow, I will get up and do about the same thing. I volunteered for this. Amazing. It really is quite amazing.

On the way out this morning I noticed that one of the small chapels was open. James was there to greet the day.

From there, it was a matter of picking them up and putting them down. I actually felt stronger today. I think part of it had to do with coming down out of the altitude. Seems there’s a bit more air down here.

Did I mention that I’m listening to The Long Walk by Stephen King? I won’t spoil it for you because I know so many of you are going to want to read it now, but it is motivation to keep moving that’s for sure. I really do hope they make a movie out of this one.

In the book, there was mention of passing a cemetery, and as luck would have it…

Most of the day was spent fairly off-road. They’ve done quite a bit to make it more accessible, but there are places where the way gets quite challenging.

Compared to a few spots, that’s actually quite tame. The last 3 miles leading into Zubiri are rough. The rocks and the roots want to reach out and bite you. Just prior to this patch was a fella in a food truck. I was 10 miles in at this point and was more than willing to pay five euros for an ice cold Coca-Cola and a chocolate chip cookie. There were several who were purchasing his beers. I would not have wanted to navigate that road on even a sip of wine.

I’m resting my barking dogs at the moment, but we’ll go out in a bit and see if I can find an open church and then track down some supper. A remarkable day so far.

Zubiri is basically a bedroom community to Pamplona so there’s not a lot here. The church was locked up tighter than a bank, with a padlock and chain. The restaurants were basically bars with loud people. I stopped by the grocery store and bought a nice French loaf, some smoked meat, hard cheese, and a Toblerone bar. I sat in the dining hall with Elvis and enjoyed my meal.

Sounds like a perfect supper to me. It’s not even 6:30 PM and I am ready for bed.

I did not sleep well last night. My room was on the third floor… Top floor… And the windows did not open. It was hot. Tonight will be better.

16.5 miles / 34,200 steps