Days 2 & 3

Day 2: St Jean Pied de Port to La Cruz (mountain top cross) - 16 km
Day 3: La Cruz to Roncesvalles - 9 km

My first two days of walking! I was the last pilgrim to leave my albergue (hostel) and quickly bumped into Randy who was the last to leave his. In these first days of getting used to a new culture, new lifestyle, new everything, including walking with people from all over the world, I am drawn to the familiar. Which is anyone who speaks English. So Randy, a soon to be grandpa from California, felt like a great person to walk with.

We established early that we were here for adventure, beauty, and setting our own pace. The world we live in often sets the pace for us, but here we can follow our hearts, minds, and feet. He doesn't know if this will be a spiritual pilgrimage for him, but I don't think it is accidental that God put me on his path.

5 kilometers into our walk we came to a way marker that indicated we had taken the wrong path. Two routes led to Roncesvalles. The Route de Valcarlos was the easier route, along the highway, that we were told to take and had planned to. The Route de Napolean that we were on went over the Pyrenees and wasn't recommended in the winter due to snow.

Since we were here for adventure we decided to go another 5k instead of turning around. But the hostel we arrived at in 5k was closed for the season. At this point we were committed to the adventure, and had yet to see snow, so we pressed on.

Despite the fact that we were walking "together" we rarely walked side by side. Me usually 10 if not 20 minutes ahead. Though any time there was a fork in the road I waited for him so we could decide together our next steps.

As night came upon us we came to a cross on a mountain. A memorial of sorts. And set up camp.

Randy, an eagle scout, was more than prepared. With a tent, cook stove, dehydrated dinner, we camped in style. The wind gusted up to 50 miles in the night, adding to the adventure. So we waited until 9 am when the winds subsided to begin our trek the next morning. When we immediately ran into snow.

There is no way to describe how difficult it is to walk up, across, and down a mountain that is waist deep in snow. But I will tell you it took 10 hours and all our strength to go those 9k. I never feared for our safety, but I did worry that we might spend another night on the mountain or have to hike it in the dark.

With 4k to go I asked God to bring us into Roncesvalles by 8 pm in time for mass. Which, at our pace, did not seem remotely realistic. But we made it. And I received a blessing of safety from the priest. So I guess you could say I ended both nights at the cross!

That first night I thought I might be sad if this was the wildest adventure of my journey. But by mid afternoon of the second day I realized I would be perfectly content to stay on the "right" path for the rest of the journey.

Sometimes you have to take the more difficult route first in order to appreciate the "right" path later.

Though I wouldn't give up my adventure in the Pyrenees for anything!