BreakyourBack Mountain

Day 3 France
SJPP to Roncesvalles.....AKA The Big One

kilometrage : 27.4 stan balls : big 0, sorry stan, nothing in these hills but sheeps to chase.

Ok, todays the day. On Camino de Santiago proper i have to get over these Pyrenees hills things. The climb of 4000feet uphill looks quite severe on the makeshift map i picked up in SJPP, i´ve never seen a 85degree incline or 9 in 10 hill or 88% gradient on any map.....surely this is a printing error, it just cannot be this steep. To add to the trepidation it is dark, wet, foggy and cold this morning but feeling in fine fettle (as they say) i schlep off.......right after my 2euro pilgrim breakfast!! Turns out the map was erring on the slightly melodramatic side and it really was not that steep at all or then again it is impossible to tell when you can only see 20metres ahead. The way was very clear and well marked though and i worried not about my lack of navigation equipment. i.e. a decent map. I could only imagine how incredibly breathtaking the views from here must be, i literally could only imagine, as i said the ´vis´was down to 25metres or so. My fears of losing my way in this weather were unfounded and i was glad i chose the ´high pass´route despite the lack of available scenery. The advice had been that in very bad weather or in bad weather not to take this route but march along the main road thru the valley with the hertz car rental crowd. I suspected it could not be really classed as ´very bad weather´ as there was no snow or biting winds but it may have fallen under ´bad weather´. The only other life around aside from 2 irish ladies on a weeks walking holiday consisted mostly of cow bell clad sheep and a couple of horses which i thought looked rather cold. One very strange creature did run past which i believe was a dog but it seemed pretty inbred as it had a pigs snout for a nose.....didn´t try to bite me though so i´m not one to judge.

At the top of the pass a very hardy man was living in a van for 3 months in order to dispense hot tea to weary walkers. What a welcome sight - he shone through the mists like an angel of refuge and i enjoyed a few wonderful minutes sheltering with him under his tarpaulin and sipping hot fragrant tea until it really started to throw it down and the pigdog came back so the magic was broken.

I arrived in Roncesvalles quite early, basically down to the fact i had no desire at any point to stop walking and do anything else since it was so wet, i even skipped lunch so my squashed and wet demi baguette and emergency kit kat will do nicely for a delicious supper before i bed down in the monastery refugio with a bunch of smelly boots and snoring pilgrims. Disappointed i haven´t seen any suitably robed monks yet, though they hold a mass at 8pm so might get into their work uniform for that i guess.