After a breakfast of breads, cereals jams, cheese and tea, we said goodbye to our hosts and departed the Bellari. We had planned to stop for water, and as we neared the edge of town, we realized there were no more stores. We turned around and went back into the village and each purchased two bottles.
It was foggy, muggy and a bit cool, but as we started off up the mountain from Saint Jean, it didn’t take long to start sweating. And sweating. And sweating.
There were points where I cursed Stacy for ever having told me about this walk. Parts where I wanted to throw up, and parts where I wanted to collapse into a heap on the edge of the road and whine and moan. I did the last one. The grass was wet but I didn’t care. My backpack became like a turtle shell and I was stuck there squawking while two nice men walked past and inquired if I was okay. With sweat pouring down my bright, red face (and every single other place on my body), and gasping for air I gave them the okay sign. I didn’t feel okay at all. But I wanted them to keep walking and leave me alone. They did, and I continued my whining for my Mother and my child instead. 😀
We walked, and walked, and whenever we thought that it couldn’t get steeper, it did. There were points that I would have to stop every 20 feet or so to catch my breath. Karis was a machine! Nothing slowed that kid down.
At one point, in a beautiful shady spot far above Saint Jean, we stopped to have some fruit. Mom and I were exhausted and sitting on the grass. Mom threw me a peach, and I missed. It hit the path behind me and gained momentum FAST! I squealed at Karis to run after it – and she did! But I had no idea how far that peach would go! It rolled a long way back down that trail, flying into the air with every smack of the dirt. And Karis was right on it’s tail! She ran all the way down to where it crashed into a fence and brought it back up! Amazing! At that point I had written off that peach but my little saviour returned it. With only one small knick in it too! We laughed HARD!!! What a sight!
We met people as we climbed. Or I should say, as they passed us. We passed only one person the whole way up. A Portuguese lady who is staying in the same albergue with us tonight.
One man, who chatted with Mom for awhile, was named Neville. He was walking a 3 day trek with his wife, but she was up ahead. From England, they were there walking after their son gave them the trip as a gift after doing it himself. We would later meet up again with Neville (and the wife) and discovered why Neville was not walking with her. Grumpy hag she was! (Poor Neville!!)
Shortly after Neville continued on at a quicker pace then our legs would take us, we saw what we had been warned about. The vultures. They were circling. At first, further away… But the slower we went, the sweatier we became, and the more I moaned… The closer they became. At one point, out of fear from a story Leona’s father-in-law had told her about vultures trying to eat people who slowed down to rest, Karis grabbed my poles to prepare to defend us all! Thankfully, Orisson was just around the corner. 🙂
Our goal for the first days walk was to arrive in Orisson. It is only 8km from Saint Jean, and from reading on the internet, sounded like a good stopping point on a day that the incline was so aggressive. After arriving (around 12:30-1:00 I think?) we questioned if we should have kept going further. Already prepaid, we settled in having a great lunch, shower and another round of washing clothes.
As I write this, Karis is massaging my calves, and we will soon go for dinner. We plan an early morning tomorrow, hoping to go to – and maybe past Roncevaux.
Ron is being sweet to upload my blog posts when I have no wifi, (sending them through texts) which means that I can’t upload pictures until I have wifi. Hopefully tomorrow I can upload a few. The view from up here in the Pyrenees is absolutely spectacular!! 🙂
