I Can’t Believe I Am Here Doing This!

I Am Way More Excited Than Anxious! What a Difference a Day Makes!

Well today I arrived in St. Jean Pied de Port and the bus ride from Pamplona was just simply unbelievable. My next five days are going to be fun. The terrain is not flat but it is certainly beautiful. It is going to be tough. I got up as the bus stopped in Saint Jean Pied Port.

I put on my backpack, grabbed my poles, and walked into the town looking for the Pilgrim’s Office. Clearly I needed more pole practice as I kept jabbing my foot with each step. Hiking Dan eh? God help me. I needed to register for The Camino at the Pilgrim’s Office and buy my passport. Your Camino passport would allow you to gather stamps from hotels, restaurants, churches, and other businesses along the way. You needed at least one stamp per day. In Santiago, you presented your passport as proof of completion. In return, you were given your official Compostela. It was the certification that you completed the Camino. Catholics were to receive a different one form other pilgrims. The Catholic Compostela was in Latin, not Spanish. I also wanted to but my seashell and attach it to my backpack. The seashell was the official symbol of the Camino. El Camino de Santiago has many different routes. I chose the Camino Frances as my route. All routes end in Santiago at the cathedral where the remains of St. James’ lie. All roads lead to Santiago, thus the sea shell symbol.

I remembered thinking that the streets of Saint Jean were so steep! Oh My God I am dying walking to this office. How far is it? I started to break out in a sweat again, just minutes after stopping my sweat from my last walk hours before in Pamplona. It hit me that I had not yet stopped looking at the ground. As I lifted my head, I froze. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Seriously, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? How am I supposed to climb these? Those are real mountains! I saw the surrounding mountains that encompassed Saint Jean. They were nothing like the ski hill I practiced on with my full gear back in Collingwood, Ontario with my dear friend Joanne. My heart sank and I wondered which one would be my challenge the following morning. The town was beautiful, so quaint and pretty. I finally registered at the pilgrims office. I AM AN OFFICIAL PILGRIM .

 

I finally made it to my hotel. It was lovely. It was very clean and I had a great mountain view! I was exhausted from my 25-minute uphill walk from the bus station to the hotel. Was I ever in for a surprise! The hotel owner greeted me and showed me to my room. He asked if I wanted to explore the town. He suggested I do so soon, as a massive storm was due to hit the area that night. He said that hopefully it would be dry in the morning when I was to head out. The weather in this area can change very quickly, and predicting it is hard.

I did go explore and it was just stunning! I was in paradise and I loved it. I walked around and took many photos. I ate lunch at a local restaurant and decided to come back later for dinner. I decided to go to the old gate where you leave the town and head up the road to start your Camino. I wanted to know where I was going in the morning. I just stood staring at the road. I wondered just how tough the climb would be. I met two people in Toronto who walked the Camino just before I left home. Both Matt and Melanie told me it was breathtaking but the climb was hard. In all the reading I had done, the climb was referred to as a severe challenge. I was scared. I went to a local church and said a few prayers. “Dear mom and dad. I am scared and worried. I need your help and need to feel your presence if I am going to make it up this mountain. Please look out for me and keep me safe”. I said a few more prayers and headed back to the hotel for a nap.

I went back into town for dinner and bought nuts, fruit, and water for the next day. The rain started and within hours we were having a massive thunder storm.

My hotel here is very very sweet, it’s a bed-and-breakfast. I have a nice room with my own bathroom.

My room has a view!

It was overcast all morning and a little bit of rain but it has cleared and the sky is absolutely blue and beautiful. I sat at a café and had a wonderful lunch and a little glass of wine and it’s now close to 3 o’clock. I’m going to have an afternoon nap. I want to take it easy tonight get a lot of rest. Tomorrow is my big climb. You may not hear from me for a few days because I’ll be out of Wi-Fi. I am not worried about tomorrow. Many people of all ages are doing this and it will be perfectly fine. I’m very very excited.

I am a little nervous about the climb over the Pyrenees tomorrow. Look at these hills! They are way more thana  hill! We are expecting a horrible rain storm overnight. I am hoping it clears as I can not imagine this climb in a storm!

It was now just shortly after 5:30 am and I was still sitting on my bed. My recount of yesterday had me feeling calm. I purposely chose this day August 23 to start my journey. It was the day my mom died and I took it as a sign that I had spiritual help on my side. It was time to shower, have breakfast, and start my journey. I took one more deep breath and began to prepare to hike.

The air was damp and cool, but at least the rain had stopped. The mountain pass was open, so off I went. I had my backpack on, poles in hand (I stopped stabbing my feet with each step) and I headed towards to the ancient gate of Saint Jean to begin my journey. I passed through the gate and began along the road that led up. Hikingdan was on his way! I did a quick sign of the cross and plowed forward.

 

KEEP WALKING!