Day 2 - Hunto to Roncevalles (21 km)

Today I entered Spain.

The prospects for today did not look promising last night as I sat down to eat with French, Austrians, Irish and French Canadians, rain beating down outside. As I wandered across to breakfast at 7am the rain had stopped but we were now enveloped in swirling, isolating cloud.

Amazing views....

It was to be another day of mostly steady climbing, winding my way up on annoyingly slippy paths and firm tarmac, other travellers shadows in the mist ahead and the quiet broken by the cloud-dulled 'click clack' of people's walking poles. For over two hours my world extended less than 25 yards although occasionally the mists parted offering glimpses of the surrounding hills - and showing what I was up against. I shared coffee with an American woman and Spanish guy at a remote refuge en route and as I walked I passed time with more Americans, Canadians and Dutch. I crossed the high point with better views than early in the day but certainly not in keeping with what I had read in the Codex:

'The Basque Country has the highest mountain on the Camino. It's called the Pass of Cize and is both a gateway to Spain, and a commercial route where important goods are carried from one country to another.  The mountain is eight miles up, and eight miles down the other side, and seems to touch the sky. Climb it and you'll feel you could push the sky with your hand.  The view from the summit takes in the Sea of Brittany, the Atlantic Ocean, and three territories: Castille, Aragon and France'.

I saw a sea of pilgrims, an ocean of clouds and the occasional wild horse that may have come from any of Castile, Aragon or France...

When the clouds cleared...

Oricon Refuge - Coffee break

The day ended with a seemingly never-ending - and often jarring - descent through a chestnut wood until, five and a half hours after leaving Hunto, I arrived at Roncesvalles, today’s night stop. It’s a tiny place not far from the French border with fewer than 30 permanent residents. There’s not much more than a couple of small churches, an old Augustan Abbey, which is now a 200 bed hostel for pilgrims, and an old monastery which is now a comfortable hotel. No prizes for guessing which one I’m in...

Descent to Roncevalles