4/5: Valcarlos to Roncesvalles.

7:42 a.m. to 12:19 p.m. hiking time.

20,299 steps taken.

7.67 miles hiked.

2,589′ elevation gain. This is almost the height of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.  Just saying….

Average walking speed: not calculated due to lost phone signal and many rests.

I didn’t sleep too well at my hostel with the private room. But the sleep I I did get was enough for the day. It took me an hour to regroup, pack, and get out the door.

New British friend, John, and I enjoyed a light breakfast together at the hostel. We had the Zero Protein Special: coffee (very good), orange juice, toasted baguette, butter, and jam. Yummy but incomplete trail fuel.

This was my hardest hiking day EVER, but I made it through, and my spirits are up. While I am certainly tired, I’m also energized to see what is next.

We walked all the way up to the famous and very large Roncesvalles alburgue. The Valcarlos and Napoleon Routes converge near Roncesvalles, so we saw many more pilgrims. The first half of our hike wound up the river valley from Valcarlos. We passed a few farms and very small settlements. The hiking was challenging but doable. The weather was perfect for hiking: partly cloudy, light breezes, mid/upper 50s in temperature. We enjoyed gurgling streams and a forest at the early edge of Spring. Time passed quickly as we chatted about this and that while getting better acquainted.

We both knew that the mountain loomed before us.

It was a long and challenging slog up the rest of the mountain, tredding over rock and mud. John encouraged me through the hard hike and I did the same for him. We didn’t have any conveniences, fountains, or food service. We had to monitor our water intake and the few snacks we brought.

At the summit, we briefly admired the fine little Chapelle San Salvador de Ibañeta.

There, our Valcarlos path converged with the Napoleon Route path for a pleasant stroll to Roncesvalles.

Pilgrim Lesson: Sometimes we walk to be gifts to others. I was able to encourage John to rest more and hydrate often. This helped prevent likely injury from overexercion.

Wife of Pilgrim Lesson: Susan was tracking my progress via the Strava app. Early in the morning, she checked in on my progress and became significantly concerned. Because I lost my connection, Strava was acting buggy. Susan thought I had wandered off the path on a remote area while hiking alone. In fact, I was on the right path and was not hiking alone. Susan learned that when it’s 3:30 in morning, it’s better to sleep than fret.

Tomorrow, it’s a descending hike to Zubiri. After that, I’m headed to Pamplona.

No bulls involved this time.