Up with the alarm at 5:15 am, and being packed the previous night we were out the door by 5:45, getting a jump on the crowds. The plan was to get as much walk in before the sun came up. Leaving early meant getting to Los Arcos early, and not having an issue finding a bed. Armed with a flashlight for an hour of darkness, we would get our morning coffee and nosh in the next town, an hour away. Great plan, poor execution.
Because we left so early, nothing was open for the morning coffee, so the plan was to stop for breakfast at Hotel Irache about 5k out. The only thing open at this time were the bars still going strong from the previous night, and hordes of drunken revellers lined the streets in a few places. There are two routes one can take on the first section today, the scenic mountain route and the valley route. While the mountain is a bit shorter, it has more climbs and no facilities for food or water. To make a long story short, we ended up on the mountain route with about six other pilgrims. My gut was telling me to turn back, but we ignored it and followed the others. Our younger fellow pilgrims were quicker than us but we could see their flashlights ahead. All went fine for about fifteen minutes when all of a sudden we were alone. As there was only the one road, it had to be the right one, so onward and upward ....waaayyy up...we plodded. An hour later, and about 2.5 km and 450 vertical m, later it became obvious a mistake was made when the road ended at a weather station. There was no choice but to go back down.
We had started the day early, felt fresh with sturdy legs, and had blown it. After a couple of choice words and anticipation of half an hour or more cursing myself, a strange thing happened, at least strange for me. There was a sense of calm, and an understanding that this was a gift, alright thats a stretch, but it was no big deal. There we were alone on top of a mountain, looking down at spectacular views; a mountain that we climbed in a little over an hour, that just days ago would have taken us half an hour longer, and drained us completely. Don't get me wrong, it would take a toll on our knees and feet, and we had to get half way back down and pick up the correct trail, and make the complete days journey. But in the end, we shrugged and moved on, and mentally put that 5 km in the bank for future use. We both chuckled a bit that the thump thump of that god awful club music could be heard at the top of the mountain.
About half an hour backdown we spotted the sign post missed in the dark, and took the trail. This was a true woods path on natural ground, through a forested area at the start, then open grass lands later on. It became a bit of a slog as we hadn't eaten anything other than a shared banana and apple. Even the town we passed through had nothing open, so we were about five hours into the day without anything to eat when we connected back into the main trail, with 10 km to go and no stops between, meaning there would be no food.
And then the Camino delivered again. About twenty minutes up the trail we walked into the Freddy girls, taking a break, relaxing overlooking the hills to the north and snacking on a meal of meats, cheese and bread. Hallelujah. Food for the first time today, thanks ladies. I started to think that they were actually our guardian angels. Then again, when I think about it, maybe it was Shirley, aka mom, who might have got ahold of the girls before they left and said " you watch out for Mary Lou and Mitch".
Nothing really spectacular about the walk from this point on, more of the same fields of barley and hay. The last five km came hard, and we were stiff and sore, but managed to get a couple of the ten mattress on the floor in the attic of the first alberque that we stumbled on. We later hobbled into the main square and found a restaurant that served a delicious dinner before heading back for a sound nights sleep. It would be needed as tomorrow would be a 28 km walk, the longest so far.
Distance 21 km plus 5 in the bank
Time 7.5 hrs
Weather Overcast with some rain
Distance left 664 km
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