Wednesday, April 3, 2024
Today was brutal. Awesome. But really tough.
In the morning it took us 2.5 hours to pack. I was frustrated, but Alicia was absolutely livid. It seems like we are getting worse, not better, at packing.
It wasn’t long after we left the Albergue that we found a water fountain in a park. We stopped to fill our water bottles, and then got back on the trail. About a mile and half later, Kimball looked at me with terror in his eyes and said: “Dad, I think I lost my sling bag.”
Sure enough, it was nowhere to be found. It had his wallet, his phone, and his AirPods. After a minute we realized that when we had stopped for water he must have set it down, and then left it there.
It had to have been stolen.
Then I thought to check the location in FindMy, and it was ahead of us, in the next town. I figured someone must have taken it and rode a bike or a car up to that town. The location didn’t move at all after that. It was stuck in a field between the towns of Cizur Menor and Cizur Mayor. So we figured (hoped) that maybe they had dumped it there. But when we got to the location, the phone and bag were nowhere to be found.
A really nice guy named Fermín helped us look for it for a while, but we had no luck. He also called the police, who said they would come in 10 minutes, but they never arrived.
By now, Betty and the girls had moved on, so Kimball, Ian, River, and I headed out to meet them. I checked FindMy, and the phone was now on the move again. It was on the trail ahead of us, close to the Alto de Perdón.
The climb from Pamplona to Alto de Perdón is one of the most iconic and brutal of the Camino. It just goes up and up and up. We caught up to Betty and the girls in the little town of Zariquiegui, where Betty had a really nice chat with a lady named Mertxe who runs the store there.
Betty and I were able to hike together the way up to the Alto de Perdón. Legend says that many years ago a pilgrim was hiking that trail on a very hot day. The devil appeared to him and offered to give him water if he would deny Christ. Three times the devil came, and three times the pilgrim refused. Then Santiago appeared to the pilgrim and gave him real water.
I love those kinds of stories.
The Alto de Perdón was awesome. The views were spectacular, and it’s such a beautiful monument to the Camino. It was made in 1996, and it represents the history of the Camino, with a lone pilgrim at the front, then a growing train of pilgrims and merchants. Then a break that represents when the Camino was not very popular, and finally two modern pilgrims who represent the resurgence in interest in the Camino in recent years.
If the road up to the Alto de Perdón is tough, the way down is even worse. It’s steep and rocky, and with sore legs, every step is painful. It was particularly difficult for Betty. So we slowed the pace, and over time made it off the mountains.
We stopped in the little town of Obanos, which has another great story, this one from the 14th century. It’s called the Mystery of Obanos, or the Mystery of San Guillén and Santa Felicia.
The legend says that Felicia and her brother Guillén were children of the Duke and Duchess of Aquitaine (southwestern France). Felicia was a believer, and she did the Camino de Santiago. When she was done, she dedicated the rest of her life to helping pilgrims on the Camino. Her brother Guillermo was not happy about this, and he tracked her down and killed her. But then he felt so bad about that decision that he ended up doing the Camino himself and then dedicating his life to helping pilgrims. His remains are still in the area, and they do a pageant every year in Obanos to remember the story of these siblings.
As the day went on we continued to follow the location of Kimball’s phone. It seemed to be always an hour or so ahead of us on the Camino. Then suddenly, it jumped back to Zubiri, and then all the way to Roncesvalles. It looked like the FindMy was broken for sure.
At some point in the afternoon, I had put Kimball’s phone in lost mode. This allowed me to put a message on the home screen with my number. But I wasn’t sure if it would work because we are overseas, and the phone lines are weird with our plan.
Then just as we were sitting down for dinner I had the thought to change the message on the home screen to say that if the phone was found they could contact me on WhatsApp.
Within a few minutes I had a message from the Guardia Civil telling me someone had turned in the phone and that they would bring it to us in Puente la Reina.
Within an hour we had Kimball’s phone back, along with the rest of his stuff. It was a huge tender mercy.
Betty is really feeling tired. She’s not sure if she can keep going tomorrow. I gave her a priesthood blessing. We will see how she feels in the morning.
