I slept for a few hours at a time, and had no problem getting up about 6am. We had decided to use the backpack service for our backpacks and take the small one. Im glad we did! We dropped off the backpacks at the main office and strolled around outside until 7am when breakfast was served. It was anything special, just coffee (in a bowl!), bread, orange juice and jam for the bread. We finished our breakfast and were on our way before 7:30am. The trail started steep, and didnt change much, except to get even steeper! Just after 8:30am we reached the Virgen, so we stopped for a short break. There was no food truck, but we discovered later that apparently he parks further along the trail until just before noon, then moves to Virgen spot. At about 10am, we found the food truck. Apparently he stays here for the early Orisson crowd, then down. We each got a coffee with milk, and I got a banana. We were already pretty tired, and had a long ways yet to go. Soon after the food truck, we reached to spot where the Camino leaves the road and climbs (more) over the
ridge to join another trail. This scene is in most of the videos we watched. Its the scene in the movie The Way where the father first decided to spread his sons ashes.
The top of this section has a marker stating this is the highest altitude. A bit before 11am, we reached the Fuente de Roland, with clean drinking water. I think it was close to here where we entered Spain, but somehow we missed it. At about 12:30, we reached the beginning of the down side of the trail. Yes, we had been pretty much climbing since we started! I remembered the guy in the Pilgrims Office and Saint Jean warning to not take the left trail. It was a bit shorter, but very steep and very dangerous. At the top of the split, we, along with quite a few others, took a much deserved break. Just after 2pm, we reached Roncesvalles. We had been told they didnt open for until 3pm, but they were open already and we got the color blue, which was the 2nd group for While we waited to be called, we took a break in the dining room and had
a soda. Pretty soon the color blue was called and we checked in. Id already book two beds, so that wasnt a problem. Id also paid for dinner at the nearby Casa Sabina and breakfast tomorrow morning. I think dinner was 11 Euros and breakfast was 5 Euros.
We grabbed our transported bags, and went up to our room. Yes, up! We were on the 3rd floor. They did have an elevator, but Manoli doesnt like elevators. Oh, I forgot to mention that we had to leave our hiking shoes downstairs. All the beds were bunk beds, but they were modern, with 4 to a space, and each had a lockable locker. After getting our beds make up, and organizing things, we each took a shower. We lounged around until about 7pm, when our dinner reservation was, then went over to eat. We had a choice of fish or chicken, plus a desert. Manoli and I both chose fish, and they were served with heads and all, but were quite good. Oh, and we also had french fries and bread.
After dinner, we headed back to the Albergue, and lounged around downstairs until almost 10pm, which is when
Tomorrow we head to Zubiri, which is about 21.5 kilometers. We made reservations at the Albergue El Palo de Avellano. See you tomorrow.
