A decent night's sleep and, to my pleasant surprise, a decent breakfast from the vending machine in the gite :0)
I waited for sufficient daylight before departing. The first few metres were on the trunk road which was unlit - I certainly wanted to ensure that I could be seen while walking!
The forecast had been for rain (the young lady at the church was most helpful in looking such things up) but in fact what we had was a sort of very heavy mist and low cloud. Not so much rain as enormous humidity.
As soon as I was out of Saint Blaise it was straight into the woods and uphill. Once I was in the woods I found that with the early morning and the low cloud the light was rather dim. It felt like walking in twilight. The going was immediately quite tricky, with roots and loose stones, and everything slippery in the damp. About 500 metres up the track suddenly got a lot wider and smoother. Here's the reason why:
I think this was actually done for forest management but never mind, it made the going easier.
My day was one of up and down hill - seemingly more up than down! It was misty all around so there weren't really many long views to be had, but it wasn't cold and it helped me greatly that with all the early exertions I wasn't experiencing 26 degrees (that's for Thursday and beyond).
Walking a bit higher took me into the mist. An interesting experience
And then the views opened out slightly
I had planned to try to stop beyond Mauléon (the suggested stop) and leave myself a distance that would allow me to reach St Jean in three days instead of four. Not that I'm in a hurry, but in fact this is wild, remote countryside and, if I'm honest, it's not always a bundle of fun to be spending the entire morning, day and evening alone. Solitude is good at certain times - it allows for reflection and for clearing the mind, but one could have too much solitude.
Anyway, I thought I'd see how the 16km to Mauléon went before making any decisions. The roads and forest paths went uphill. And then, after they'd gone uphill for a bit, they went uphill. After that they went uphill, followed by some uphill sections.
I reached Mauléon by 11:30. I sat in the small market square as the market closed down, and ate some trail mix (thank you again vending machine). I found the inhabitants here quite cold compared to the warmth of the Bearne. We were now in Pays Basque and, as if it weren't already obvious by the language, everything was starting to feel a little more foreign. Not quite the same comfortable old France I've been enjoying these past years.
I headed out of the square and uphill following the signs:
Once I saw the signs for a castle I felt obliged to go and take a look. Quite impressive really, as I'm sure you'll agree. 15th century this one - positively new!
Then the path took me downhill and through the old town, which again spans a river
Shortly after, still on my way out of town, I saw this large chateau but didn't have the inclination to cross the road to read the sign that explained what it was.
The signs (of which there were many) indicated 10km to Ordiarp, in 3h 50min. Hmm, that told me that it wasn't going to be on the flat. I was right. Guess where the path went? Yup - uphill.
But it wasn't too bad at all really. The low cloud had lifted, and while the weather wasn't going to quite make it to sunny, it was no longer damp. I covered the remaining kilometres in good time, while at the same time reflecting for what is really the first time about my reasons for doing this walk. Truth is I still don't really have any. It's good for my fitness - that's one thing. But I don't sense any deeper reasons for it, nor does it feel particularly 'special' in any sense. I even wondered at one point if I should really bother to walk all the way to Santiago. After all - it's my walk right? I didn't sign a contract.
I wondered why I felt like this and the answer surprised me a bit. It seems to have come out of the fact that this will be the third day that I've not been able to find an internet connection. Funny though that reason might sound, I realised that while I'm enjoying this walk, regions such as the one I'm passing through now (especially in the grey, damp light) are so remote and so sparsely inhabited, that I felt the need to be able to publish my blog and check my email - the sorts of things by which I have rather tended to end my day. It's reassuring to be able to check messages and such.
Anyway, once in Ordiarp I phoned a number on the sheet I'd been given in St Blaise yesterday and a very jolly woman answered. I walked to the church (you've guessed - 12th century) and waited for her.
Ten minutes later a jolly, smiling lady appeared and I'm now installed in another proper bed while I wait for supper this evening. Nice.
Her husband (we haven't done names yet, it's fairly formal) has done the camino eight times - not bad at all for a bloke of 75. He had some good tips - one of which concerns tomorrow's stage. If I follow the camino marker for marker all along the GR78, it's going to be 36km to St Jean. That's 36km that includes two 500m hills.
So I'm going to take his suggestion which is to walk to St Just-Ibarre (the first leg) along the road and then pick up the GR. This will save me about 8km or so, leaving me with another day like today of around 26km. With all the incline work, I can assure you that this is plenty!
I waited for sufficient daylight before departing. The first few metres were on the trunk road which was unlit - I certainly wanted to ensure that I could be seen while walking!
The forecast had been for rain (the young lady at the church was most helpful in looking such things up) but in fact what we had was a sort of very heavy mist and low cloud. Not so much rain as enormous humidity.
As soon as I was out of Saint Blaise it was straight into the woods and uphill. Once I was in the woods I found that with the early morning and the low cloud the light was rather dim. It felt like walking in twilight. The going was immediately quite tricky, with roots and loose stones, and everything slippery in the damp. About 500 metres up the track suddenly got a lot wider and smoother. Here's the reason why:
I think this was actually done for forest management but never mind, it made the going easier.
My day was one of up and down hill - seemingly more up than down! It was misty all around so there weren't really many long views to be had, but it wasn't cold and it helped me greatly that with all the early exertions I wasn't experiencing 26 degrees (that's for Thursday and beyond).
Walking a bit higher took me into the mist. An interesting experience
And then the views opened out slightly
I had planned to try to stop beyond Mauléon (the suggested stop) and leave myself a distance that would allow me to reach St Jean in three days instead of four. Not that I'm in a hurry, but in fact this is wild, remote countryside and, if I'm honest, it's not always a bundle of fun to be spending the entire morning, day and evening alone. Solitude is good at certain times - it allows for reflection and for clearing the mind, but one could have too much solitude.
Anyway, I thought I'd see how the 16km to Mauléon went before making any decisions. The roads and forest paths went uphill. And then, after they'd gone uphill for a bit, they went uphill. After that they went uphill, followed by some uphill sections.
I reached Mauléon by 11:30. I sat in the small market square as the market closed down, and ate some trail mix (thank you again vending machine). I found the inhabitants here quite cold compared to the warmth of the Bearne. We were now in Pays Basque and, as if it weren't already obvious by the language, everything was starting to feel a little more foreign. Not quite the same comfortable old France I've been enjoying these past years.
I headed out of the square and uphill following the signs:
Once I saw the signs for a castle I felt obliged to go and take a look. Quite impressive really, as I'm sure you'll agree. 15th century this one - positively new!
Then the path took me downhill and through the old town, which again spans a river
Shortly after, still on my way out of town, I saw this large chateau but didn't have the inclination to cross the road to read the sign that explained what it was.
The signs (of which there were many) indicated 10km to Ordiarp, in 3h 50min. Hmm, that told me that it wasn't going to be on the flat. I was right. Guess where the path went? Yup - uphill.
But it wasn't too bad at all really. The low cloud had lifted, and while the weather wasn't going to quite make it to sunny, it was no longer damp. I covered the remaining kilometres in good time, while at the same time reflecting for what is really the first time about my reasons for doing this walk. Truth is I still don't really have any. It's good for my fitness - that's one thing. But I don't sense any deeper reasons for it, nor does it feel particularly 'special' in any sense. I even wondered at one point if I should really bother to walk all the way to Santiago. After all - it's my walk right? I didn't sign a contract.
I wondered why I felt like this and the answer surprised me a bit. It seems to have come out of the fact that this will be the third day that I've not been able to find an internet connection. Funny though that reason might sound, I realised that while I'm enjoying this walk, regions such as the one I'm passing through now (especially in the grey, damp light) are so remote and so sparsely inhabited, that I felt the need to be able to publish my blog and check my email - the sorts of things by which I have rather tended to end my day. It's reassuring to be able to check messages and such.
Anyway, once in Ordiarp I phoned a number on the sheet I'd been given in St Blaise yesterday and a very jolly woman answered. I walked to the church (you've guessed - 12th century) and waited for her.
Ten minutes later a jolly, smiling lady appeared and I'm now installed in another proper bed while I wait for supper this evening. Nice.
Her husband (we haven't done names yet, it's fairly formal) has done the camino eight times - not bad at all for a bloke of 75. He had some good tips - one of which concerns tomorrow's stage. If I follow the camino marker for marker all along the GR78, it's going to be 36km to St Jean. That's 36km that includes two 500m hills.
So I'm going to take his suggestion which is to walk to St Just-Ibarre (the first leg) along the road and then pick up the GR. This will save me about 8km or so, leaving me with another day like today of around 26km. With all the incline work, I can assure you that this is plenty!
How often and for how long do you stop Alan? Any time/inclination to get the paints out? Or is the mileage quite enough? It would make a great little visual diary...
ReplyDeleteErr... yes well. Painting.
DeleteI'm acutely aware that I'm carrying all this stuff around with me and as yet have hardly used it. Truth is that:
a) I generally don't stop during the day - I tend to walk five, six or seven hours as the walk demands, unless I'm walking with others in which case I stop to be sociable.
b) To be in the right frame of mind to do anything creative requires specific conditions, one of which is not being very tired. On the short days (under 25km) when I might arrive, say, around 15:00 or before, I tend to take advantage of the time by putting my feet up.
I hope that I do find time and energy to paint - it's why I brought themn along, but I can't force it nor will I. If I get to Santiago and haven't painted - well it'll be my loss for carrying all the stuff all that way!
Obviously if and when I do paint I shall post them here :0)
Actually started my regime following the trip to the Large Hadron Collider at the cardio unit with A Fairly Short Walk. May well have walked 26 kilometers by the time we meet....
ReplyDelete