You remember the old U2 song, Rattle and Hum. You might call my quote of the lyric dramatic or even trite, but it was one heck of a storm at the top of the Pyrenees today and the song ran through my head many times. I am so glad that the temperature only got down into the 50s and not any lower, but sustained winds of 70 mph with gusts of more than I can estimate, it got chilly. At one point we could see our breath as we exhaled. Although we both had rain gear on, we sweat so much from the exertion of the climb that we were wet from the inside out. I was very afraid of hypothermia, but we both put on our fleece and we were well insulated. I never thought of the value of a fleece jacket before. They are cheap to buy, extremely light, and insulate very well, even when wet. It saved us.
Sorry to report I have no pictures of the stormy time, we were just trying to get through the day, and pictures weren't a priority.
The descent from the mountain was just as interesting as the ascent. Thankfully we were out of the weather, but we descended about 3000 feet on a loose rocky path in the last two miles. Our legs were jello. It was the toughest 10.5 miles we have ever logged.
We arrived in Roncevalles around 1530 or so. Needless to say, all of our gear was soaked, and we were spent. We went to the albergue, but 72 communal beds was more than we could handle at the that point so we opted for a room at the hotel. What a luxury. I never appreciated towels and privacy before in my life. I just expected it. The hotel was deliciously decadent and healing for us both.
We went to the restaurant for a pilgram's meal. Sorry but the Hungry Peregrino was starving and the roast duck was like our other pilgrim meals: cooked perfectly and delicious. No time for food pics!
We have made many friends from all over the world. One of the standouts was our dinner partner, Jean Pierre. He is everyone's French cheerleader. An extremely fit 55 year old, he would go off of the trail, visit with people, lag way behind, and then pass us. I bet he did this 5 times during the day. He knows no stranger and is clearly happy to be alive and walking the Camino.
We met Francisco and his travel partner Juan Antonio at dinner. They are from Southern Spain. We sat down and being tired I was clumsy and knocked a whole glass of red wine on Francisco before we even had a chance to introduce ourselves. He was kind and gracious and just laughed it off. He said in his country it was good luck and a sign of good things to come. What a gentleman.
I'm concerned about our friend Fred. He fell on the descent today with a heavy pack. I hope he's not too sore today and can continue on.
Tomorrow we go to Zuribi. It's about 13 miles or so. Our guide book says it's an easy, flat terrain day, but other sources say different. We'll see for ourselves. It's supposed to rain again, but I'm glad no wind is in the forecast.
Stay hungry my friends.
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