4/9: Puente La Reina to Estella

Time: 8:07 a.m. to 2:59 p.m.
Diatance: 14.98 miles.
Steps: 32,646.
Elevation Gain: 1,561 feet.
Average Walking Speed: 3.0 mph.

I left Puente La Reina early enough to catch the morning sun on the bridge out of town. There, I started encountering large groups of Spanish high school students doing a group outing of hiking the Camino over several days. Full backpacks, smiles, and good-natured teen chatter.

Leaving town I began hiking along lovely fields of oats (dark green) and rapeseed — we know it as canola —  (bright yellow).

We passed through several villages, stopping at one to grab a second breakfast (it’s a hiker thing) and a cafe con leche.

The look of the country seemed to start to change — more rock and  drier.

As my feet started to overheat (it happens at about 20,000 steps or around nine miles on my feet), I saw a short stone bridge crossing a lovely small river of rushing cold water. Other pilgrims had also found it and taken off their shoes to soak their road-worn feet in that lovely cool water. It looked inviting, but I didn’t  join the fun since wet feet leads to blisters. Instead, I sat in the cool shade of the rock bridge, letting my feet cool on the cold paving stones.

Two American pilgrims (New Hampshire and North Carolina) came by and joined me for shade and a picnic. I had met them before because the guy was carrying a regular-sized acoustic guitar case. We had we chatted about music.

Back at the bridge, I asked the New Hampshire guy if I could play his guitar. He said yes. I took it from the case and began to play. On an acoustic guitar, I usually “noodle,” which, for me, is a musical expression of prayer. I play/pray my feelings and what is on my spirit.

About a decade ago, I had a personally remarkable burst of song-writing creativity. This entailed taking classic hymns and updating their melodic structure and arrangements. For those into the inside baseball of obscure modern hymnody, think of the sound and feel of Indelible Grace. Kind of like that.

At the river, I was playing and enjoying instrumentally one of my reimagined hymns, “It is Well With My Soul.” The main lyric goes: “When peace like a river attendeth my way…” It seemed to fit the mood and the riversong. When I finished strumming, a number of pilgrims who were standing behind me on the bridge started clapping. They were moved by my played prayer. We were all refreshed by the moment.

I walked the remaining distance into Estella, which straddles the Ega River. It’s ancient and lovely. It reminded me of my granddaughter, Estella, except she’s not ancient. She is turning six years of old age soon.

I had a couple of hours of pilgrim logistics (reservations, finding food, navigating the alburgue– this one is modern, clean, and has a wonderful proprietor named Puy who excels at warm hospitality).

Miscellaneous Pilgrim Pix

Pilgrim Lesson: It’s always a good idea to play and pray what you feel when the opportunity presents itself. Regardless of the presence or absence of an audience.

Next: Estella to Los Arcos.