Today we are going bigly. 32km so we will be doing a 20 mile day. I finished packing early so I went down in the common area to get some coffee and tease Kiera. She bought a bunch of crap last night wondering the streets and now she is trying to give it away because it is too heavy. Joe and I had some tasty coconut coated nut thing.
Today’s weather starts at 50 and continues warming all day to 70’s by 4:00. Ventusky says we will be hitting rain blobs in the morning. It rained hard last night, so another day of slippery trail.
I took this pic while chatting with Alice.
The first half hour of the hike was basically just getting out of town. Pamplona is not a small place. Once on the trail, it began a long gradual climb which we topped around 10:30.
Our morning walk was basically a series of reunions with folks we have hiked with in the past. First we bumped into Dale who hung out with us until his coffee break. Dale is carrying his camp stove and he likes to stop at nice spots to brew a cup. I like his style, but we’ve work to do.
Next up was Maria, a middle aged German gal who spent most of her life in shitty countries coordinating humanitarian aid. She’s a little on the chubby side so the hill climbs hit her hard. No doubt she will finish and likely be much thinner. She is a determined gal. She shared a few stories of her time in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Ethiopia, and the rest. Seems she spent a lot of time in front of soulless bureaucrats which sounds as bad as hanging out with the impoverished.
As Maria faded into the background, I bumped into several more recognizable folks. Made a little small talk with them, then concentrated on the climb.
Reaching the top of the climb, I could better see the topology of the Pamplona area. The city resides in a huge, shallow valley collecting runoff from hills that completely surround it.
Big Joe was there for the selfie
After the climb comes the decent which wasn’t bad, but plenty of slick spots. The rain thing was disappointing, just a few drops. Walking a lane to a tiny town call Cizur Menor, I saw this white cat strolling the opposite direction on the left side. She casually strolled past a group of hikers then made a beeline for me, stopping at my feet and looking up. Pets. This cat must do her rounds every morning picking out hikers for pets. Sorry I pic.
Joe and I finally got hungry and had an awesome Pilgrim’s Plate in Puente la Reina. Salad, veal, fries, and flan washed down with cheap beer. Fueled up, we did the last 4k to Cirauqui.
We walked together for a bit, then I jumped off trail to check out a small side route to the ruins of the Monastery of Bargota. That is a lot of words for what turned out to be a pile of rocks. Here are the spectacular ruins
Back on the road. Got a pic of Cirauqui from the distance. The place is built on a hill. Inside town it was a big climb to the hostel which was located near the top. Next to a church. Cool hostel, nice dude running it.
Once we got settled, I ran off to the pharmacia to get Joe some KT tape and cold packs. He had a slip yesterday and it seems that he has a case of shine splints on one leg. I had a bad case on the PCT and it took me out for a week. I could barely walk. Hoping his is not so bad.
The hostel dinner was the usual, salad, bean soup, bread, and endless wine. Got to know a few new folks: Tia (Dutch), Dominic (young Swiss dude), and a few other characters.
Tia is full of opinions which she loves to share. I, of course, enjoy provoking her. She was complaining about not getting enough sleep last night due to snoring people. She said something like “if a person snores, they should book a private room”. I told her my reputation. Tonight she is in our room together with 14+ people. I am 5 feet from her, ready to share my special lullaby.
After dinner, Joe was chilling and I was writing. This church bell rings every 15 minutes. Wtf. It finally stopped at 9 I think.