Distance traveled: 23.8 kilometers

I hadn’t awoken intending to do this, but I ended up deliberately separating from my group on the way out of Pamplona. I had planned to walk with Alma and William, but I found myself about 30 minutes ahead of them in terms of being ready to leave and just had this gut feeling that it was right for me to go on rather than to wait. I stopped in the cafe where Adam, Jenny, and Lou (you’ll hear more about Lou!) were already having breakfast and told them that I was going on ahead, which they fully supported, and off I went.

Once I got out of the city, there was a long expanse leading to a high-rising cliff with wind turbines, far off in the distance. As it turned out, the path led us straight to those turbines; if I’d known that initially, I would have taken a picture so that you could appreciate the distance. It wasn’t often on the Camino that we’d be able to track our progress visually over so substantial a distance.

One of the consistently remarkable things about the Camino is the diversity of the landscape. In the course of a day’s walk – and I averaged “only” 13 miles a day – we could go from towns to fields to forests to rocky hills. Even on the Meseta (coming up in about two weeks), where the landscape is more consistent, the place we ended up rarely looked like where we’d started.

The top of the cliff with the wind turbines is a relatively famous spot on the Camino, and it’s a great photo opportunity. As I said in my Day 1 post, I liked climbs, and this one definitely came with a satisfying view.

Coming down from the summit was another matter entirely. This, dear reader, is where my feet finally developed the blisters I’d been so proud of avoiding during the preceding three days. The descent was steep and very difficult; parts were more passable (as there had been some effort to create an approximation of stairs), but the majority was rocky, and my toes ended up bearing the brunt of my weight without having sufficient room to move within the boots. Even though I stopped midway down to apply some blister band-aids as I became aware of “hot spots”, the damage was done, and the pain only got worse as the day went on.

I hobbled into Puente la Reina and, curious about a relatively new albergue that supposedly had a pool (I thought soaking my feet might be a good idea), I made my way through the town and, unfortunately, up a pretty good hill on the other side of the river. (It was too late to turn back once I realized how high I had to go!) It was a pretty big place and almost entirely devoid of pilgrims, most of whom had apparently (and wisely) chosen to stay in the actual town. Not wishing to spend the rest of the day in solitude, I showered and, still wearing my shower sandals, made my way back down the hill and into town. I joined my Irish dining companions from Roncesvalles for a glass of vermouth and pondered what to do about my blisters, which clearly needed some attention. I’d come prepared with an entire Ziplock sandwich bag worth of various blister first-aid items, but I figured it was worth a trip to a pharmacy anyway. I stocked up on more blister band-aids, rubbing alcohol, and… a syringe. I’ll get into more detail about blister treatment later…

Alone for the first evening since I’d left Paris, I wandered up and down the main street of town, trying to decide where I’d feel least uncomfortable dining solo. As Adam had told me, though, the Camino provides, and I ran into an American couple named Paul and Siobhan whom I’d met on the first day. We spent a few minutes catching up in the street, and then they invited me to join them for dinner. We had a lovely time, and I was thankful to have dining companions. Unfortunately, I never saw them again after this. Another reality of the Camino is that you truly never know if you’ll see someone again. (Sometimes you’re not that far away – it’s like two parallel lines that never meet. I walked exactly one day behind my friends Lou and Bill for several weeks before, in one long day of walking, I finally caught them up.) It took me a few more days before I realized that if I wanted to be able to stay in touch with someone, I needed to ask for their contact information immediately!

Coming up next: I opt for a shorter day as my blisters start to get the better of me, learn an important lesson about judgment, and have one of the best dinners of the Camino at “the Magic House”.