Day 4 - Pamplona to Puente La Reina (Camino Frances)

If you walk into a big urban city, you have to walk out of it.

Probably one of the biggest pet peeves on the Camino we had was walking alongside the roads outside of the larger cities.  Most of the time, our paths were wide and protected from traffic, but other times, all we had was the white line and some gravel between us and oncoming vehicles.

Once back to the countryside, the terrain would change three to five times, if not more, before we would find our end destination for the day.  On this morning, we encounter more large rocks and loose gravel.  Chato was constantly dumping it out of his oversized boots.

Today, we had a much different horizon to aim for - El Alto del Perdón.

My research, before the Camino told me that we should expect high winds at the peak.  In my mind, we had already surpassed and survived the Pyrenees, so it couldn't be THAT bad, right?  In fact, we didn't have any wind at all.  We did have lots of fog and low lying clouds that kept us from the views below (and behind us of Pamplona).  We knew the road ahead, to get to the "Mount of Forgiveness" would be a challenge when we saw it in the distance.

7.5 miles later, at the top we enjoyed the beautiful sculpture that quotes: "Donde se cruza el camino del viento con el de las estrellas"

"Where the path of the wind crosses with that of the stars.”

Thankful for simple, packable snacks, we carried on.

We had come to learn that a long walk deserved a Spanish coke.  What's so good about that, you say?  Glass bottle pour, extremely large ice, and a slice of lemon, every single time.

 

Our albergue Jakue was a welcome site.  We were able to do laundry, get a snack and hit that Spanish siesta before our pilgrim dinner.

 

Day's end stats:

Start:6:15 am @ Hotel Tres Reyes; Pamplona

Km: 23.8

Miles: 14.8

End: 1:35 pm @ albergue Jakue 

Video: LINK