Our first Camino, we started in SJPDP and arrived in Roncesvalles at 8:04 p.m. Not because we started late from SJPDP, but because we ran into snow on the trail, and because of the snow (and fog), we had trouble in one area finding markers and had to backtrack, and then later we missed the path that avoids the steep albeit very beautiful forest path. It's easy to miss that junction even on a sunny day. The downhill was very painful on our toes, which we had not prepared for, and the pain slowed us down (at times I had to walk backward to avoid the pain). Fortunately, we had booked one of the hotels in Roncesvalles, and their restaurant was open until 9:00, but getting to dinner before closing time was a scramble.
We had no idea what we were doing, we stumbled upon the Camino in 2015 and made almost no plans beyond Roncesvalles. In hindsight, we were very lucky that it wasn't especially cold or raining. We would have been in very big trouble because our phone battery died midway, and we were the only people on the trail at that late hour. Of course, now we start from Orisson or Hunto, we carry lots of extra portable chargers, food, and we plan a nap each day.
The first two photos from 2015 photos were taken at 5:44 p.m. (not sure where
) and 6:46 p.m. (walking backward a few steps to relieve pain on the downhill). We brought a camera on the first walk. The last photo was taken between Orisson and Roncesvalles in 2022 at 2:04 p.m. (the perfect time for a nap).
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