Camino Day 2: Roncesvalles to Zubiri

Date: April 2nd

Distance: 17 miles/ 27 km

Time: 9 hours (8:15-5pm)

Just when we thought the weather couldn’t get any colder or worse… LOL

I was worried about this day.. we woke up to a foot of snow on the ground. Intense snow and wind. A fucking cold 25 degrees. I did not imagine I would be wearing my mask during the Camino, but I wore it today just to keep my face warm! haha

One of my best friends (who had previously walked the Camino before) messaged me… “On the route today there’s a really nice river you can dip your feet in!” We all had a good laugh about that.

Man, pilgrims have grit! Everyone headed out, head down against the wind. I started with my girl gang- 4 Americans, 1 Swede, and 1 Dutch.

Luckily, the snow stopped after a few hours, and the walking kept our bodies warm. We took several stops for cafe con leche, hot chocolate, and lunch (beer + cheese omelette + bread.)

Plenty of time to take in the winter wonderland, talk, listen, enjoy, and at one point, we turned on some tunes and sang.

This was a very physically demanding day. Normally, 85% of the day today would have been on the trails, but because of the snow, we stayed on the road, which added extra 5 miles to our day. The pavement is also a lot harder to walk on, and we all felt the toll of it on our bodies and our feet. I had a lot of pain in my right knee, my big toes, and the soles of my feet. Others in the hips, achilles, shoulders. Roadside stretch breaks were necessary.

We could barely stand when we arrive to our albergue in Zubiri. Our room was a couple flights of stairs, and you should have heard the moaning and groaning and limping when it was time to head down for dinner. Hah!

But then, you’re sitting at a communal table with fellow pilgrims who feel like old friends.. people who you’ve met already, talked with along the way, people who just went through the same day you did. You share wine and food and you laugh, and you pretty quickly forget about the soreness and pain form the day… at least until you stand up again. 😉