Saint Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles (23.4km)

I woke up a little before my alarm today at 6 AM and couldn’t fall back to sleep. I had a deep excitement within me that is hard to explain. All I could think about was the day ahead, and how eager I was to experience the beginning of my journey. I felt just like Bilbo upon finally deciding to journey to the Lonely Mountains:

I offered my day to God and everything that would come with it. The joys and sorrows, the pleasures and the pains… everything. I told Him that I would hold nothing back from Him, should He request it of me. And, of course, God asks us to accept with thanksgiving any good thing that comes our way, and to accept with willingness to sacrifice and unite our suffering to Jesus’ suffering on the cross any suffering that comes our way. Let it not be wasted, or confused with silent resignation! God knows our hearts. I only ask that He gives me the mindfulness to remember my commitment in the face of suffering, and the greatness of heart to accept suffering willingly, just as Jesus did, even if it may not seem to serve any purpose. No act of sacrifice, however small, is wasted when offered to God.

There’s something beautiful about waking up and knowing that you have only one thing to do that day: walk. It’s so simple. I think I will enjoy life on the Camino.

At 7, I finally got out of bed and started getting ready for the day. I packed my bag in the dark because Sean was still sleeping. Poor Sean, there’s no way he slept through all the noise of 4 pilgrims getting out of bed and getting their bags together. Once my bag was all packed, I finished off last night’s pizza for breakfast, which was fantastic.

Around 7:45 I was ready to go. Sean decided to sleep in a bit, so it was just Margare and I today. So we then began the walk to Roncesvalles, the small town in the Pyrenees mountains. I stopped at the local church on our way out to light a prayer candle to start my journey, which is a common pilgrim practice. Then we crossed the river that signifies that the Camino has begun!

Most of today’s walk was along a main road. The classic route, the Napolean route, is much more strenuous but also much more beautiful, and crosses over the tops of the Pyrenees. Unfortunately, it’s closed from November to April due to snow. So I walked the Varcarlos route, which follows a valley to the side of the Napolean route. It began flat, then ended with a lot of uphill off the main road in the forest.

Thankfully, the walk began with some beautiful scenery in the countryside. I saw sheep, goats, pigs, cows, horses, and chickens. Plenty of green fields and pretty mountainsides too. Yellow arrows (or fletches amarillas) kept us from straying from the right path. It started raining early into our walk, but it was a very light drizzle, so nothing bad.

We passed by some very small towns that looked pretty dead due to the winter. But I can’t imagine how packed these towns get during the summer. I hear entire towns throw feats every night!

Margaret and I talked about our families, school, and many other topics. It was nice having someone to talk to. We also had long silent stretches where I was just able to get lost in my thoughts. I took many moments to pray or give God thanks for the beautiful scenery and the privilege to even be taking this pilgrimage.

As I mentioned before, most of the walk was along the main road with cars coming by every so often. We had to stick to the sides of the road. But eventually, the path veered off of the road into a beautiful forest. Moss covered trees dominated the area and we started our uphill trudge soon after. Over the whole day, we gained about 800 meters, or 2400 feet, of elevation. It got tough at the end, and I had to take many breaks to catch my breath or to drink water. But eventually we made it!

Roncesvalles is a beautiful little town with a gigantic hostel that used to be a monastery. It is connected to a very pretty’s church and a small church. The final stretch up to Roncesvalles was very beautiful. I’m pretty sure I could spot the Napolean route along the tops of the Pyrenees from across the valley. I’m actually glad we didn’t go that way; the tops of those mountains were very snowy.

We made it to Roncesvalles at 2:15, pretty early. I took a nice warm shower then did some laundry (they had machines for free! A rarity.) and then dozed in my bed for a bit. I then called Mikayla for a little while and told her about my day. I am missing her very much. I thought a lot about her today, and my excitement for our wedding is certainly growing. I love you Mikayla!

Eventually, Sean arrived at the albergue. It was nice to see him again! A new man named Kim was also there. He’s from South Korea. Funnily enough, he lived in Irvine, California for 5 years! We bonded over how nice Southern California is, and talked about our backgrounds and what we do. He’s also a software engineer.

After that, it was about 5. I took a walk around the town and prayed a rosary, then got to the church early for some Adoration before the pilgrim’s Mass at 6. The time of prayer was very beautiful. I thanked God for His blessings, then just sat in silence with Him. It was very peaceful. The pilgrim’s Mass was very nice as well. I tried hard to understand the priest, but their Spanish is very quick so I didn’t get to understand much. But it was the same usual familiar rhythm of the Mass, which was peaceful for me. At the end, they called up the pilgrims and gave us a pilgrim’s blessing. It was very beautiful! It was in Spanish of course, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

After Mass, Sean, Margaret, Kim, and I went to the local restaurant for our pilgrim’s dinner. For only €13, we got a bottle of wine, macaroni and cheese, chicken and French fries, and yogurt with sugar. It was so good! We all had a great time. I got to learn all about the strife between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland from Sean, which has apparently died down in the last few decades. Kim told us about his time in California and how much he loved it there. I got to tell the story of how Mikayla and I met over 10 years ago (wow!) and how we started dating. It was a very good time. There was lots of genuine laughter and good conversation.

After a filling dinner, we headed back to the albergue. I then got to talk to my lovely fiancée again on the phone. No matter how amazing of experiences I have out here, I think that will always be a big highlight of my day. Then we said goodnight and I got ready for bed, and then wrote this blog post. I am practically falling asleep while writing it, it’s almost 10. I’m very tired from the long day, and I can’t wait to get almost 10 hours of sleep in. All in all, it was a great start to the journey! I think that God has already begun doing great things, and I can’t wait to see what He has in store for me.