Sunday, March 31, 2024
Today was an interesting day. We started by walking about 6 miles to a town called Valcarlos, where we had been told we could take a bus to skip the nastiest part of the Camino. When we got there we started asking around for the bus stop. It was raining and getting cold and everyone told us there is no bus stop in that town. The policeman even told us that it’s illegal for busses to stop in that town. So we found a hostel, but the guy there said he wasn’t sure if he had room. I just kept feeling like things would work out. Betty was feeling tired and cold. The kids were not feeling great, but they kept a pretty good attitude.
Then the bus drove through in the opposite direction and the cop flagged it down and asked if it would stop for us on the way back through town. The driver said yes. And he came back about 30 min later and picked us up. Betty was in tears she was so grateful.
Now we are here in Roncesvalles, taking warm showers and resting.
It’s also Easter Sunday. I want to make it special. I’m not entirely sure how, but I am sure the Lord will provide.
River did a pretty good job walking. She walked about 2.5 miles at the beginning, then I just threw her on my shoulders for about 4 km, and then she walked a bit more, and then I carried her for the last long and very steep ascent into Valcarlos.
I think she maybe walked 3 or 3.5 of the 8 miles today.
It’s good to be back in Roncesvalles. It’s a beautiful little spot, and so full of history. There was a legendary battle here that in the year 778. The battle is memorialized and fictionalized in an epic medieval poem called The Song of Roland, which is one of the oldest pieces of French literature. It’s inspiring, even if the facts are mostly changed. It’s basically a story of self-sacrifice and honorable death.
It’s a good place to rest.
Distance hiked: 8.1 miles / 13 km
Total distance on the Camino 8 miles / 13 km
