So, I know I said in my last post that I’d talk about my thoughts on Barcelona later, but I’ve now finished my second day on the camino, and I’d much rather write about that because it’s a very imediate.

It’s begining to sink in what a crazy thing it is that I’m doing. I don’t know how to describe how incredible and how intense it is to walk like this, and know that I’ll be walking like this for over a month. Yesterday, I walked up a mountain, and today I walked down it. Yesterday was 27 kilometers (I’m sorry I know most of you who are reading this use miles, but I’m not gonna translate) and today I walked 22. I’m thinking that tomorrow I’m gonna take it easy. Walk less than 20 kilometers or something. I need to check the guidebook, but that can be done later.

Upon arriving in Saint Jean de Pied de Port on Saturday evening, I pretty much imediatly made friends with a couple of people who knew each other from highschool, Terry and Alex. We walked together for most of the next day, although we split up for a couple of hours because they stopped for coffee and I wanted to keep moving, and then they made a wrong turn and ended up walking along the highway for a while.

While I was a little disapointed that the mountain pass was closes, the walk through the valley was beautiful, and the steep incline and the end of the day was brutal, but the kind of brutal that makes you feel badass.

It would have been really hard to do without Terry and Alex. Alex, despite having blisters on the bottom of his feet even before starting, was practically bouncing with energy and enthusiasm the whole way. Terry was having a hard time, this being her first time doing any sort of backpacking, and being drastically underprepared for this, but I could help her, and being able to help someone is always encouraging.

It had been windy the whole day, although beautifully sunny. But just as we were nearing the top of the mountain, it started to rain. When we left the wooded area, it was intense. The wind was so strong that is yanked open the snaps on my poncho, making the whole thong flap wildly around my face. I could barely see, and when a gust of wind came in, I needed to brace myself against it. When we reached the top, Terry and I took shelter with some other pilgrims behind a small chapel, while Alex went to experience being at the very top. Not that he could enjoy the view, as his glasses were covered in raindrops.

We made it down to Roncevalles at 7:00, which was too late to do laundry, but not too late for a hot shower and a delicous meal. Some kind of soup (I have no idea what it was) pasta wirh tomato sause and some kind of sausage, cod with a sause of roasted peppers and something else, and potatoes and onions. Oh, and there was a little cup of yogurt for desert. It was such and amazing and wonderful day, and I hope I remember it for the rest of my life.

Today was harder. Except for a little bit this morning, it rained all day. It’s still raining, in fact. I split off from Terry and Alex after lunch because I needed a little alone time, and that was good for a while. Walking feels good. Even when my feet hurt, even when I’m tired, walking makes sense. There is something about the bodily rhythem to it, the beat, the breath, that is not like anything else. I mean, it’s kinda like dancing, or when I build something with my hands through hard work, but there’s a consistancy and longevity to walking that’s unique. Even as I realize again and again that this is fucking crazy, and I’m exhausted, and there are probably other ways I could go on a quest to find myself, I’m glad that I’m doing this.

Oh! I wrote another verse to Road Goes Ever On and On, the song that Bilbo sings upon returning to the Shire at the end of his journey, and Frodo sings when leaving Bag End at the start of his. The title of the song, which is repeated at the start of every other verse, feels incredibly true each time I sing it. The road doesn’t stop, it stretches out before me for hours upon hours upon days of walking, but in a cheerful way. Anyway, my verse:

El Camino is very long it’s true,

But I will walk it through and through.

My walking stick does tap a beat,

And I will follow it with my feet.