The first day of my Camino walk was devoted to climbing and then coming down from the Pyrenees, the chain of mountains which form a natural barrier between France and Spain.
The website gives this information about the difficulty of this first day of walking the Camino
https://santiago-compostela.net/camino-frances/1-from-st-jean-pied-de-port-to-roncesvalles/ .
This first day of my pilgrimage was indeed very hard work. The dangers of his first day of pilgrimage should not be underestimated. Just before arriving at the Albergue at Roncesvalles, I found a small, very recent memorial.
The English translation of the Portuguese epitaph says this –
“Pilgrim
Gilbert Janeri
[died] 18 March 2013.
With much love.
Missing
family and friends
Brazil”
I was told that Gilbert had died in the snow while attempting to walk the stage of the Camino that I had walked that very day. I had walked the same path as Gilbert only 28 days after Gilbert died while walking that path.
An Albergue is a pilgrim hostel. The Albergues provide good quality, cheap food and a safe, warm bed to the weary pilgrims.
On that first night in the Albergue at Roncesvalles, I realised I had now become a ‘pellegrino’ – a pilgrim.
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This was me at the start of my climb up the Pyrenees after leaving Saint Jean on Monday the 15th of April 2013.
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Some of the wonderful scenery I saw while climbing the Pyrenees on the 15th of April 2013, the day I left Saint Jean.
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The snow was very extensive when I climbed the Pyrenees after leaving Saint Jean on the 15th of April 2013.
This is another photo of the snow covering the Pyrenees when I left Saint Jean. It is not surprising that pellegrino (pilgrim) Gilbert Janeri died on the first day of his pilgrimage. May they rest in peace.
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Diary Entry Made on Monday 15 April 2013 at 5:07 pm
I am at Roncesvalles; I arrived at about 2:45 pm. My fingers (mostly left hand) keep cramping up. The day is now filled with glorious sunshine. It has been a tough day.
I started about 6:50 am just as dawn was happening in Saint Jean. It is a very steep climb out of Saint Jean. A sharp, strong, very cold wind was constantly blowing as I climbed. It was hard work. The wind stayed until I reached the top of the Pyrenees. There was snow lying on the ground and it was starting to melt, causing slush underfoot. As we walked across the top of the mountain, the track was covered in snow. It was difficult to trudge through; it was slippery and treacherous.
I walked most of the day with Gerlinde, a German lady with no English (and I have no German). She is doing the Camino for her third or fourth time - I am not quite sure of the correct number. She is a very nice lady. She gave me the end of her trekking pole to hang on to as we slushed through the snow. It helped.
The descent from the top was treacherous because of the snow and mud. Roncesvalles was a welcome relief. The albergue has clean beds and good pressure in the showers.
Distance Walked Today: 24.8 kilometres.
Total Distance Walked So Far: 24.8 kilometres.
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Soul Song Number 2 - Climbing the Mountain
(15 April 2013)
Wind lashes your face as you climb.
You clamp tight the string on your hat.
You could easily lose it in this wind.
As you ascend, the snow patches grow more frequent.
They grow larger.
After two hours you stop for orange juice at Orisson.
Soon enough, you rise from your seat.
You are anxious to return to the important matter of lifting yourself up the Mountain.
Trudge, trudge you go,
Trying to ignore the roar of the wind,
Trying to ignore the increasing cold.
By now, the snow has ceased to be a distant, casual acquaintance.
Now it is an intimate friend.
It must be an intimate friend.
Only friends would let you walk all over them.
Of course friends might let you walk all over them,
But they are unlikely to really like you doing it.
The snow doesn't like it either.
It objects quietly.
It tugs at your shoes,
Skidding your feet into places you don't want to go.
The snow is good natured at first,
But it soon becomes more serious in its objections.
It envelops the track and the nearby mountain sides.
The snow has fun while reminding you that winter might be departing,
It isn't truly out of the door as yet.
At last the climbing is complete.
You now must do the opposite of climbing.
It is time to declimb.
Is there really such a word as "declimb"?
Of course there is.
The mountain has invented the word just for you.
Now it is time to accept that there may even be an end to the day's travel.
You must go carefully now.
Sliding through snow on a downhill track isn't for the faint hearted.
It could be dangerous if you stopped to think about it.
But you don't think about it and you keep declimbing.
After all, there will be an end to this day's walking - if you persist.
Fallen trees dot the track now.
The snow has no preference about whom or what it brings to the ground.
People and objects living or not living,
The snow doesn't mind.
Trees are just as welcome as people.
The snow will offer them a bed too.
Soon you are in a forest of leafless trees that have resisted the call of the snow.
These trees are trying to change their status,
Willing their buds to grow and rectify their nakedness.
They urgently seek this season's display of leaves.
Within this forest, you could easily get lost.
The way markings are scattered.
They have to be sought out.
Of course it is right that you should have to seek them out.
You do seek The Saint don't you?
Don't seekers have to learn how to seek?
And then, quite unexpectedly, there is Roncesvalles.
Today's walk is over.
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