Walking Day 4:
24 kilometers
34,914 steps

We started the day leaving a sleepy Pamplona at 8:30 in a very brisk morning, almost expecting some rain. Thankfully, the rain never came. Pamplona is elevation just under 450 meters (1400 feet), and the main hill today is Alto del Perdón (The Hill of Forgiveness) at over 750 meters (2500 feet), and back down to Puenta la Reina at about the same elevation as Pamplona. So basically out of town, up a long, long, 8 kilometer (5 mile) climb to the top of the hill, and then about the same distance downhill, but fairly steep and rocky for the first kilometer downhill.

The walk out of Pamplona is along streets with wide sidewalks and only moderate traffic. Within a half an hour we were out of the town, and approaching the hill into the small town of Cizur Menor.

A way marker on the way out of Pamplona – pretty easy to find the way out of town.

At a short cafe-con-leche stop in Cizur Menor last year, I discovered my one and only blister all of the walk last year, a very small one (smaller then my little fingernail), taped it, and went on. This year, on the climb up to Orrison, I discovered a fairly large blister on the back of my left heal. This was quite disconcerting, because I had walked in these boots for many hours in Chiang Mai, Thailand last winter, and around my home over the last few months. I taped it up, but there was still some pain there when I was walking uphill (no, I’m not going to post a picture). The next two days were the same, but fortunately, the uphill stretches were nothing like that first day over the Pyrenees. In Pamplona, Tom found a shop for pilgrims where the owner knows a lot about footcare, looked at my heal, and said, we have this product that is made for exactly your problem. I bought enough for more than the expected healing time. I also decided to really rest my heal and walk in my Keen sandals instead of the hiking boots for several days. So while my feet are suffering a bit on the rocky path, my heal is getting a good rest. I miss the hiking boots, but the healing is more important now.

Last year I posted a picture of this very field, completely ablaze in bright yellow as the springtime canola flowers were in full bloom. The field appears to have been harvested and under preparation for the next planting.

Tom on the right as we both photograph the way up the long gradual (not really that gradual) 8 kilometer hill up to Alto del Perdón, the hill of forgiveness.

Here I am taking a short breather where the path is in the shade, surrounded by fairly dense bushes and small trees.

As we continue up the long climb and neared the top, the path changed to a long stretch of larger rocks. This stretch is easily over a kilometer long, and I am really missing my hiking boots right now (my left heal is not missing the hiking boots). Hiking boots have a thicker, stiffer sole that protects the foot from the rocks and uneven terrain. The Keen sandals have a softer sole, so my feet are feeling the rocks substantially more. I already know that the down hill stretch from Alto del Perdón is longer and even rockier than the uphill.

The view of the final part of the hill ahead with the wind turbines (windmills) spinning away. This is a long hill, and we are now seeing evidence of the top…if we can just get through the rocks.

At the summit is one of the great landmarks of the Camino, this long metal sculpture, dedicated to all pilgrims who walk the Camino de Santiago. It was erected in 1996, by the power company and shares the top of the hill with 40 wind turbines (windmills). Alto del Perdón is named after a XIII century basilica dedicated to Nuestra Señora del Perdón (Our Lady of Attonement), desecrated by Napolean’s troops.  The sculpture, by Vincent Galbete, shows pilgrims on foot and horseback and represents the historic and eternal nature of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. There is a Spanish inscription on it  “donde se cruza el camino del viento con el de las estrellas” meaning “where the path of the wind crosses that of the stars”. Here I am at the sculpture. [This was the location for a scene in the film “The Way” by Emilio Estevez, starring his father, Martin Sheen.]

The downhill section looks much like the rocky uphill, only steeper and longer. We walked down slowly and carefully. While a little treacherous looking, it is just a slow, deliberate, and careful walk through or around the rocks.

On a flatter stretch of farmland waiting for the next planting, a striking vista.

Waymarkers in the sidewalk in the town of Óbanos just before Puenta la Reina. These are more three-dimensional, really striking.

Here I am about to leave Óbanos, under the city arch.

And turning to the left is the church adjacent to the city arch. Puenta la Reina is only 2 kilometers away; we are almost there.

Entering Puente la Reina, Tom checked in to the albergue right at the entrance to the small town (population 2800). My hotel was about 200 meters further through the main street. I checked in, got a shower, and changed clothes. Because there was no washing facility at the hotel, I took my clothes to be washed to the albergue. One of the Korean ladies we have walked with off and on had a few things, I had just a few things, she had soap and I had coins, so we shared the washer. Then I hung up my clothes and perused the guidebook as my clothes dried slowly under overcast skies. It was a good day on the Camino, and is the norm, we are tired. Sleep came more easily tonight, so I am (thankfully) easing out of Pacific Time.

Next: Puenta la Reina to Estella in 22 kilometers…and will it rain?