Saturday we woke, got our gear on, headed out the door around eight, picked up some bottled water and headed to the Camino Trail. As we were walking through town, we stopped at a bakery and picked up sandwiches to take with us for the day.
The walk-through town was flat, but as we left town the ascent was pretty steep . The first ascent was over 500 meters, which is equivalent to 1,000 feet and that was only to Santuario De Guadalupe, a small 16th century church with amazing views of Bidasoa valley.
From there, we continued the ascent for another 600 feet, where the views were equally impressive.
Poo and I had decided months ago we wanted to follow the coastal route, which is one of the variants to the original route however, we got a little off track trying to find the road that leads down the mountain to the cliff-side route and ended up with an extra mile or so to boast about.
A total of 17 miles for the day.
When we finally found the route down to the sea, it took us about an hour and a half just to get down there. We got on the route and started on our way. We did not expect what came next.
We had to hoist ourselves up this 10 ft. boulder with the rope you see hanging against it. At this critical moment, I should have suspected what was to come …………..
So far I have faced two of my biggest fears on this trip and one of them was not intentional. My fear of flying had to be addressed if I wanted to go to Spain. However, my fear of heights was not. What came next was not a willful decision.
The trail we were on guided us around a cliff with the edge continuing to get closer to our feet. It felt like everything around us was slowly closing in on us. At one point, the trail became only as wide as the length of our shoes, with the edge of the cliff so close we barely had ground for the trekking pole in our right hand to poke any solid ground.
I SURVIVED BECAUSE I DID NOT LOOK DOWN. To take this picture, I leaned against the cliff and held my phone out as far as I could, without looking at what I was photographing. I was terrified, but obviously, I wasn’t going to pass up an epic picture
It was absolutely the most terrifying position I have EVER been in!
I thought about turning around but only for a split second ….. that would have been more dangerous than continuing forward. There happened to be a young man, from Pamplona, who was just ahead of us who kept stopping to check on us. I’m sure he thought he might have to call 112 (the emergency number in Spain).
Poo and I consider ourselves pretty physically fit but we were also carrying an extra 14 and 20lbs, respectively, which made us more wobbly on a narrow trail. (Nope, I didn’t get that weight down 🥴)
By the grace of God, we made it around the edge of the cliff where it felt as if the heavens had opened up on us and we were safe. Praise the Lord!
We decided to take the next “exit route” that leads to the road and call it a day. 17 miles is no joke for us 60+ers. It wasn’t just 17 miles, we hiked that mountain up and down TWICE!
I am not embarrassed at all.
We came across these gorgeous creatures as we followed the exit route. Wild horses, I guess, as there was no fencing at all and we were probably about 20 feet from them. They had no desire to interact and did not care we were close to them. How amazing is that?!
We made it to the next town but the albergues were full so we had to find other accommodations on the fly. I’m not gonna lie, it was difficult and took some time but we figured it out and I lived to blog about another day on the Camino.
Amen to that!
Xoxo, Katy
Good job Katy (and Dave). This what the Camino is all about. You keep finding out that your limits are not limits. And that people you don’t know are there to help if you need it.
Congratulations! 17 miles magnificent. Cliff walking, horrifying. Rock climbing with a 14 pound backpack, hard. You guys are in great shape! Rock on. B1
Fantastic, Katy and Dave – so brave with your explorations!
Wowowowowow! “Amazing Grace” is playing in my head!