Day 2: Roncesvalles to Zubiri
- sarezend
- Apr 19
- 2 min read
The words to describe todays walk: Rain, Hail, and 36 degrees. It was wet and cold. We knew the forecast was rain, we considered taking a taxi but a compromise was struck as we walked out of Roncesvalles with the rain stopped. Today’s walk would be a total of 21-22 KMs. The first hour was fine, a little muddy, wet trails but flat and dry weather. The walk also cut through three small towns over 12-13 KMs but nothing after until Zubiri. As we entered town 1, no rain occurred and it was pleasant; however, shortly thereafter the sky opened up and down came pea size hail and thrn steady rain, a couple of thunder rumbling made it ominous. We entered town 2 with a lull in the rain but the remnants of the hail stayed and temperature started falling. The rain becoming steady, and for next 2 hours we walked through trails of mud, and flowing water, with my feet getting wet, and I needed a change of socks. I was miserable, cold and wet. At the 12-13 KM mark, we entered town 3 with two bar/cafes and we veered off to bar/cafe number 2, sorry, I don’t recall the name, but it was a much needed shelter from pouring rain and cold. We decided to rest, and quickly decided to call it a day, it was taxi time. As we entered the bar/cafe, the owner was speaking to another pilgrim in perfect English, so we asked if he could call a taxi, and he did. He then said it would be 90 minutes to wait. I smiled, and said fine, Jeff ordered a pizza and other foods which were delicious and we made ourselves at home for the 1.5 hours. No regrets the taxi was the right move as we knew there was also a steep decline walking into Zubiri which could be slippery and dangerous, and sure enough stories of people taking falls due to the rain confirmed our decision. In the end, we skipped about 9-10 KMs and I would do it again in an instant. I did end up with a blister due to wet socks. The taxi ride took about 15-20 minutes at a cost of $7 euros/pp. While we waited for the taxi, we met several pilgrims warming ourselves around a gas heated fire stand. Please enjoy the below pictures of Day 2.
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