July 3rd
Kilometer 2.112,8
It was still lively in the village last night. Guitar playing, dancing, and singing took place along the riverbank. It was gospel music, and it was fun to hear and see; a lively and colorful group. But we were back in the hostel early to save energy for today. Today, we're still not heading into the high mountains, but the elevation changes are becoming more significant, and with them, the altitude gain as well. We wake up early again, have our hotel room breakfast of protein yogurt with muesli, and set off. Crossing the old bridge over the Rio Arga, we leave the village of Zubiri along with other walkers. Everyone turns right towards Pamplona, while we turn left towards the mountains. From the village, we immediately start uphill on an old worn-out path. It's evident that many have walked here before us; the old stones are heavily worn. We climb about 300 meters through the forests and among the flowers. We see many orchids, especially the purple wasp orchid catches our eye, which we haven't seen before. Once atop the first peak, the landscape becomes more open, and we gaze out over a vast valley. A line of groups of hikers approaches us. We'll likely be saying "buen camino" (good journey) many times today.
After gradually descending, we find ourselves walking more often along meadows and passing through several small villages. In Bizkarreta-Gerendiain, there's a small "tienda" where we can make some purchases for the evening and the upcoming break. For the latter, we've found a delicious cake: "tortas txaltxigor". It's not entirely clear what it is, but it's always fun to try a local delicacy. We walk a little further and find a quiet spot in a mowed meadow, slightly off the route, to take a break. We brew a cup of coffee and start cautiously but curiously on the Basque cake. It's crispy, pleasantly sweet, but also a bit unusual. Nevertheless, we enjoy it. After some translation work from Basque, it turns out to be a cake made during the pig slaughtering period. The main ingredients are bread dough and sugar, and the fatty component turns out to be baked lard… It's not something we're used to eating, and somehow knowing that makes the taste of the cookie just a bit different, haha! But we finish it nonetheless 😉
As we continue walking, we still have about 7 kilometer to go. Initially, we pass through meadows, and later the landscape becomes more wooded again. We cross a small river using stepping stones. Inland, we've often seen them dry, but here we're grateful they're there; otherwise, we would have had to take off our shoes. The mountains in the distance are slowly getting higher. We're getting closer… Above us, the sky is clear, with beautiful white clouds hanging against the mountains. Especially in the first stretch after the break, we're definitely not alone. We're still following the Camino and pass hundreds of pilgrims walking the other way. Towards the end of the stage, it becomes quieter, and after leaving the paths, we walk along a two-lane road to reach the end of our stage: a campsite slightly off the Camino. The stage wasn't very long, but it's been a while since we've climbed so much, so our legs are happy to arrive at the campsite on time. It's lovely to have a quiet afternoon on a grassy campsite. We haven't had that in Spain before. It's nice to have another camping night after so many hotel and hostel stays. And we'll have many more camping nights in the coming days because tomorrow we'll truly enter the Pyrenees. After a bit more of the Camino, we'll turn east at the highest point of the Camino to follow the mountains towards Andorra.
