The day had finally arrived when we would start walking. The weather forecast was for rain with thunderstorms in the afternoon and very strong winds. We did not want to get caught on top of the mountain in a thunderstorm, but there didn’t seem to be much we could do about it except leave early and try to beat the weather. Our luggage needed to be down in the foyer by 7:30 am, so we dropped it off and went for breakfast. Breakfasts were included in our package, and they were quite substantial. Since this was our second day at the hotel, we knew what we would be getting, so we planned to eat the yoghurt and croissant and make lunch to take with us with the baguette, cheese and ham. Once I’d finished eating I left G at the table and went to use the restroom. As I came out of the stall, I was greeted by name by a stranger; G had introduced himself to three Aussie women at another table doing the same trip. By the end of the trip, we would become firm friends with “The Ladies from Shep.”

Around 8 am, it was getting light, so we made our way into the village and out again via the Porte d’Espagne. About ten minutes down the road, we ran into The Ladies from Shep, who were confused about the directions. It turned out they were taking the low road and had missed the first turnoff for it, but we pulled out the sheet from the Pilgrim’s Office with the photos to show them the correct turn. As we continued up the road, it got quite steep. Soon, we had views, and these just kept getting better as we got higher.

We arrived at Orisson (7.8km) just before 10 am. The refuge was closed, which we knew, but the toilet was also padlocked and the water tap was not working. We stopped and sat at the tables outside to eat a mandarin and some dried fruit and nuts and a drink of water from our, luckily, very full bottles. We both had a couple of water bottles, but because of the toilet situation, I decided to have the minimum fluid intake I could while still avoiding dehydration. There are no toilets on the trail, and most of the way, the hills are devoid of vegetation. Yes, I did walk the whole way this day without going to the toilet.

The rain held off, and we even needed to reapply our sunscreen, but the wind was fierce. At one stage, I came around a bend and was almost blown backwards before I braced myself. I would not have liked to be running against that wind. It was wild! As we walked, we were often accompanied by the sound of bells—bells on sheep and bells on horses. There are several cairns of stacked rocks and around the 11.6 km mark, the Virgin of Orissen is perched on an outcrop just a short walk from the road. We wandered over and got some pictures. The view here was breathtaking. From here, it’s another 4 km to the Cross of Thibault, but just before we arrived there, we rounded a corner, and a food truck was parked in a sheltered hollow on the hill. We stopped and got a banana and a muesli bar. There were also hard-boiled eggs, bread, cheese and various drinks to purchase. We didn’t pause for long because we knew the rain probably wouldn’t hold off all day, plus there was the toilet situation, which would only get more dire the longer we took. We pushed on and were relieved as we rounded the corner and saw the trail leading away from the road towards Spain.

It’s another 5 km from here to the highest point on the track—Col Lopoeder at 1450 m. For context, we started the day at 200 m elevation. Before we got there, we stopped at the Fontaine de Roland and ate our lunch. We were able to perch on the steps and eat. We had the place to ourselves until we were almost finished when another group of pilgrims arrived. Soon after lunch, we passed into Spain with a marker indicating we were in Navarre. Unfortunately, I have no photos of Col. Lopoeder; I’m unsure why. From there, the path splits into two. We took the left path through the forest. It wasn’t until later that I read the saying about this part of the trail: “Left is death and right is life,“ but happily, we made it down the path unscathed. Luckily, it didn’t start raining until we had negotiated the worst of it, although a woman behind us slipped and fell, but she didn’t hurt herself. We are alive … but if you go, probably go right if the weather is not great. If you do go down the left path, you will be walking through one of Europe’s largest beech forests. I did appreciate being able to indulge in one of my favourite hiking pastimes—fungi spotting.

Just as the path levelled out, it started to rain, but it was light. I almost fell into a massive puddle of mud but just managed to keep my footing. We hurried through the last bit of the forest and round Roncesvalles to our accommodation, arriving about 2:45 p.m. We’d only been inside for about 10 minutes when it started to bucket down. We were so lucky to get in when we did.

Roncesvalles is famous in history as the place where Charlemagne was defeated and his knight Roland killed in 778. A hospital for pilgrims was established here in the 12C. Over the centuries, Roncesvalles continued to grow to service the large number of pilgrims. The pilgrims refuge is in the Collegiate Church’s premises, or you can stay as we did in the hotel, which is in a building that was originally the House of the Incumbents. We went to the Pilgrim’s Mass at 6 pm before having dinner in the hotel restaurant. Obviously, the mass is all in Spanish, but I went up and got a blessing during communion (I’m not Catholic), and at the end, the Priest called all the pilgrims up to speak a blessing over their journey.

While walking the Camino, you can be as social as you like. We quickly fell into the habit of giving the traditional pilgrim’s greeting “Bon Camino” as we crossed paths with other pilgrims. Occasionally, we would walk with people and share our stories. We met a few people the first day, but the ones that stood out were a brother and sister from the US. Our paths crossed several times, and we saw them again at Mass. Henceforth, they will be called “Bro and Sis.” They’d booked the first night of accommodation at Roncesvalles, but after that, they would walk the last 100 km to get their completion certificate. Apart from that, they would see how much of the Camino they could walk in the twenty days they had available.

We finished the day pretty tired, stiff and sore but were excited to find out what the next few days of walking had in store.

The stats from G’s Garmin: Distance – 24.46 km; Total Elevation Gain – 1,821 m; Moving Time: 5:49:56.

And off my Garmin: Steps – 40,132.

I often rely on G to start conversations with strangers, but I’m happy to continue with them. Are you a social traveller, or do you prefer to keep to yourself?