The Camino de Santiago Week 1: The Pyrenees, a Heat Wave, and the Fountain of Free Wine! Saint Jean Pied-de-Port, France to Logroño, Spain.

Week 1 of my journey on the Camino de Santiago starts off in Saint Jean Pied-de-Port on the French side of the Pyrenees, and heads across Basque country before cumulating in Logroño, the capital the famous wine region of Spain: La Rioja.

Contents:

• Day 1: Saint Jean Pied-de-Port, France to Roncesvalles, Spain
• Day 2: Roncesvalles to Zubiri
• Day 3: Zubiri to Pamplona
• Day 4: Pamplona to Punta La Reina
• Day 5: Punta La Reina to Estella
• Day 6: Estella to Los Arcos
• Day 7: Los Arcos to Logroño

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Day 1: Saint Jean Pied-de-Port, France to Roncesvalles, Spain
25KM
7:30am – 4pm – 8.5 hours total time (2 hours rest, approximately 6.5 hours walking time)

A mixture of quiet excitement and nervousness permeates the atmosphere at the Refugio Municipal Saint Jean Pied-de-Port in the early morning as we go about eating breakfast and preparing our packs for the 25KM hike over the Pyrenees into Spain.

Despite being an experienced hiker I’m quite nervous about this the first day of the Camino Frances, where you have to pass the Pyrenees Mountain range and gain an altitude of approximately 1300M in the process of travelling 25KM.

I travelled alone for the first 8KM and enjoyed the solitude in taking my own time to climb the steepest parts of the day’s hike. The hike was challenging – but still well within my capabilities. Having recently hiked many high altitude treks in Peru may have boosted my red blood cell count. It was not as hard as I had feared. The day before, the volunteer at the Pilgrim’s office in Saint Jean Pied-de-Port suggested breaking the section into two days and stay at the Refugio D’Orisson about 8km away from Saint Jean, but I’m glad I did not, as it only took me 2 hours 15 minutes to get there this morning.

The next part of the walk I joined up with a group of lovely Americans from Tennessee. Despite taking at least 2 hours of breaks, we arrived at the Municipal Auberge in Roncesvalles by 4pm; with plenty of time shower and decompress before most pilgrims at the albergue went for a communal dinner at La Posada restaurant – which was incidentally the site of the albergue in the movie “the Way.” Recommendation – don’t take the pilgrim meal – it was terrible. Go à la carte instead or choose a different restaurant. Funny enough the food was indicated to be “grim” in the movie as well!

Day 2: Roncesvalles to Zubiri:
22KM
8:30am – 5pm – 8.5 hours total time (3 hours rest, approximately 5.5 hours walking time)

I set my alarm for 6:30am today, but the pilgrims around me in the municipal albergue in Roncesvalles were already awake and packing their bags for the day by 5am. I stubbornly remained in bed until 6:30am. I couldn’t leave until 8am that morning in any case as the Municipal Auberge in Roncesvalle was curiously one of the only albergues on the Camino that will not allow for pick-ups from luggage transport services, which meant I had to hand-deliver my backpack to the driver outside the auberge at 8am.

Today’s walk was both easier and shorter than the day before, and I made it into Zubiri in the early afternoon. Ziburi is a very tiny town. I stayed at the Albergue Segunda Etapa – a clean, uncrowded private hostel, a few dollars more than the municipal hostel, but worth it in my opinion.

There are very limited dining options in Zubiri, and only one tiny grocery store that closes early. The Tennessee group I walked with yesterday were all staying at the municipal albergue and had made a large communal dinner that night. In the spirit of southern generosity, they had invited me and the others they had adopted into their Camino family to join in on their delicious dinner of pasta with chorizo sausage and a large amount of wine.

Day 3: Zubiri to Pamplona
22KM
9am – 6pm – 9 hours total time (3 hours rest, approximately 6 hours walking time)

I’m starting to wonder if I’m setting the bar lower and lower for myself about being the absolute last one to leave town for the Camino every morning. Today I’m so late to get on the trail that I see both the Paq Mochilla guy arrive to take my large backpack to the next destination as well as the cleaning lady who advised me to get on the road soon before it gets too hot. I leave Zubiri as one of the last pilgrims to leave town.

By noon, I get to a beautiful bar by the river, and decide to take a glass of chilled white wine, and then it occurs to me that it’s the middle of the day on a blazingly hot afternoon in Spain, and maybe I should just stay put and take another glass of wine by the river to pass some of the hot hours before going to Pamplona? While I managed to hide for two hours at the river bar; it’s still exceedingly hot by time I get back on the Camino. I find out in later days that the hottest time of the day is not at noon; but in fact from 3pm – 5pm. I thought I was being smart with my 2 hour siesta at the river bar, but I basically was just waiting out the “pre-heat stage” of the oven by doing that.

I stayed at the Albergue Plaza Catedral in Pamplona. Note: I would recommend pre-booking accommodations in Pamplona – as it is a major tourist centre and if you arrive late, the albergues do fill to capacity. The hostel is clean and located right across from the cathedral in the downtown district just a few steps from the Camino itself. As with many hostels across Spain, this hostel has installed motion sensor lights that only turn on when movement is detected. While I’m happy to see the use of energy-saving lights; at this hostel, they are set to turn off about every 20 seconds when no movement is detected in the showers which is problematic because I’m too short to automatically trigger the movement sensors. This meant that every 20 seconds or so I had to do a very energetic and exaggerated modern dance in the shower complete with flaying arms and jumping to reset the motion sensors so as to turn the shower lights on again. Oh hostel life, you never know what it has in store for your day.

After an amazing dinner with some Camino friends, I wandered through the central district of Pamplona. Pamplona’s night life was in full swing. Everyone was out (it was a Saturday night in Spain after all) with drinks and food on the cobblestone streets just having a wonderful time. “I LOVE this city” I thought. I vowed to come back one day to explore the city in more depth.

Day 4: Pamplona to Punta La Reina
24KM
9am – 5pm – 8 total time (2 hours rest, approximately 6 hours walking time).

I really need to stop being the last pilgrim on the road. While the morning was refreshingly cloudy, and even slightly rainy at times. By the afternoon, I was in mother nature’s equivalent of a daytime bonfire. While the trail was by-far the easiest (so far) in terms of terrain and elevation; there were large sections of trail that had zero tree cover, and the heat made the day quite suffocating.

Today we pass by one of the major landmarks of the Camino: El Alto del Perdón the famous metal art installation representing pilgrims walking the Camino de Santiago.

I rolled into Punta Reina vowing to become a morning person for the scathingly hot sections of the Camino that are yet to come.

Day 5: Punta La Reina to Estella
21KM
7:30am – 5pm – 9.5 hours total time (4 hours stop time – including an incredibly memorable visit at Tandem winery)

The hike today is relatively flat, my hiking friends and I move quite quickly before the heat of the day starts to set in. We were making good time until we came across a futuristic looking building perched atop a hill among the vineyards called “Tandem Winery.”

Tandem is a small winery with an operating staff of only 3 people! José the winery manager opened the door for us. The winery doesn’t have normal visiting hours or a tasting room, but José invited us in any case. He later revealed that he can never say no to a pilgrim, and that he had done the Camino himself many years ago.

José explained that over 20 years ago he had ridden his bike right by the site of the current winery on the Camino, and it was sweet serendipity that he one day would come back to open his own winery by this very spot years later. The wine tasting was sublime, and José generously sent us off with the remainder of the three bottles of wine he opened for us for the tasting.

While our winery stop meant we ended up hiking into Estella in the baking afternoon heat, the visit with José was well worth the dehydration.

I stayed at the ANFAS hostel in Estella – which employs differently-abled individuals to promote social inclusion. The hostel was very clean, their mission is wonderful, and I would highly recommend.

I only find out today that a record-breaking heat-wave has descended upon Spain – which explains the oppressive heat the last few days. As per usual, my track record of running into record-breaking natural disasters is impeccable. I resolve to start walking earlier tomorrow, and abstain from 2 hour winery visits – no matter how tempting in Spanish wine country – to try to finish walking earlier.

Day 6: Estella to Los Arcos
21KM
7am – 2pm – 7 hours total time (1.5 hour stop time. 5.5 hours walking time)

While I resolved to not to do another 2 hour winery visit today, there was one wine-oriented destination that I could not miss. The Fountain of Free Wine on the Camino about 2km outside of Estella at the Irache Winery. It was still the early morning by time I reached the fountain, but I drank some wine anyway! It’s always wine-o-clock when there are actual fountains of free wine involved! The fountain also had a water-tap to help pilgrims buffer their wine drinking. Make sure to fill up your bottles as there is no food or water for the 12KM leading up to Los Arcos.

Despite the early start I was still pretty drained by the heat by time I arrived in Los Arcos around 2pm. It’s the first time I arrived this early at a destination, but resolved to leave even earlier the next day.

I stayed at the Albergue Casa Austria – a bohemian hostel with a lovely shaded patio. I spent a few hours just lying in bed trying to reconcile the immense heat that I experienced that day and then probably another hour or so plotting how early I was going to have to get up the next day to avoid the roasted pilgrim experience.

Day 7: Los Arcos to Logroño
28KM
6am – 2pm – 8 hours total time (1 hour stop time – 7 hours walking time)

Today is the longest day thus far on the Camino. Terrain-wise, it’s not an overly technical day; but everyone’s terrified about the heatwave.

The last 5KM before Logroño had very little shade, and while I started early that day, I still ended up hiking that last section between 12noon – 2pm – which completely drained my energy. I arrived in Logroño feeling like I was ready to never walk again. I stayed at the Albergue Albas. The hostel was small, but quiet and very clean. The owner was lovely and had also previously completed the Camino.

If you’re a foodie, Logroño will be a wonderland for you. In addition to being the capital of the most famous wine region of Spain; it also has many Michellin-starred restaurants in all different price ranges. The benefit of Logroño is it is much less pricey than larger cities like Madrid and Barcelona – so you can dine like a king and pay like a pauper.

After showering at the albergue, I see a message on my phone along with a news article from a Camino group I was part of, indicating two people had died a few days ago hiking the section I just completed. The immense heat was a likely contributor to the deaths.

My heart sank reading the news. I didn’t know the men who died, but I can only imagine the devastation their deaths had on their loved ones. No one walks to Camino expecting to die – but sadly – death on the Camino is not uncommon judging from the memorial markers that dot the length of the trail.

I survey my body – I got my first blisters yesterday, and my feet are so sore I could barely walk. I could not imagine hiking 30km to Najera tomorrow per the 33 day schedule that most pilgrims are following – in this deadly heat. Some members of the Camino group are talking about taking a bus for the next section due to the heat. There’s no way I’m busing any sections of the Camino. I resolve instead that I’m going to take a much shorter walk tomorrow – just 13KM to Navarrete as a kind of “rest day.”

It was a hard decision as this means I will break off from the people I’ve been hiking with since the start of the Camino – but my body needs a rest, and the sobering news of the recent deaths on the Camino made it imperative to me to listen to what my body was telling me.