![\"\"](\"https:\/\/makena.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/IMG_1563.jpeg\")
<\/a>as hard as it was, it\u2019s \u00a0Impossible describe the feeling of exhilaration having conquered the mountain.<\/p>\nThe views, as you will see in the photographs are breathtaking with magnificent views and awe inspiring vistas! and \u00a0as has seemed to become the norm we met some \u00a0wonderful people.<\/p>\n
Before I post the pictures and the stories, a little bit about what we decided to do these first two days.<\/p>\n
there are actually two primary paths leaving Saint Jean Pied de Port.<\/p>\n
Both are extremely challenging, but the toughest by far is the first day on the Napoleon Route, which is the one I describe above.<\/p>\n
The second is the Val Carlos route, which by all accounts on the second day is equally as hard as the Napoleon Route second day but a completely different kind of trail.<\/p>\n
On the Napoleon route, day one, \u00a0 we saw beautiful vistas \u00a0and full views of the mountain ranges.<\/p>\n
On the Val Carlos route, although \u00a0unfortunately there was some walking along the highway which was a bit challenging with no shoulder and traffic zooming by at 50 miles an hour, overall it was probably more our kind of trek.<\/p>\n
We prefer dirt paths in the forest as opposed to paved paths in the open vista. Both are beautiful, but we seem to \u00a0feel closer to nature when on a path alongside a rolling river deep in the forest.<\/p>\n
So we opted for the Napoleon route the first day and the Val Carlos route the second.<\/p>\n
Day 1- St Jean Pied de Port to Borda<\/p>\n
After an early breakfast and receiving our pilgrim stamps, we were ready to set foot on the trail.<\/p>\n
As you can see from the graphic above, there ain\u2019t no messing around or getting used to it step foot on the trail and you\u2019re on your way up.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As you start the Camino, no matter what time of the morning, you\u2019ll end up initially gravitating towards people with the same pace. Of course, that only starts the day!<\/p>\n As the day progresses, some members of the group will accelerate the pace, some will slow down, and of course, some will simply stop periodically for a break either for a snack, a breather or simply to take some photos of the views and their fellow pilgrims.<\/p>\n this results in a sort of hopscotch effect, you\u2019ll travel with a group for a little while and then they\u2019ll be a split for some period of time and then you take a break and the people you were traveling with overtake you again! In this process, you often become a member of several group groups so even though you may not be traveling with the 30 or 40 people that you meet a day you will meet them and there will be some memories.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In this process, you often become a member of several group groups so even though you may not be traveling with the 30 or 40 people that you meet a day you will meet them and there will be some memories.<\/p>\n Today there was a very small group, two sisters :-), Linda and River and it seemed as though every few miles we\u2019d be stopped and they\u2019d come to join us or they\u2019d be stopped and we stopped to talk to them.<\/p>\n The sisters are from the great Northwest and decided to attack the trail together. As in all groups, one was a little stronger hiker than the other, and so that was the pace that they kept. This is a common thread with groups on the Camino doesn\u2019t take long to get the pace that meets everybody in that particular group and that\u2019s the pace they maintain.<\/p>\n \u201cTrue Sisters On The Way\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n On day 2, we saw them several times again each time interested in our welfare and wishing us a \u201cBuen Camino\u201d and the last time we saw them on day two they were in the company of Robert, former Austin TX resident Who had some health problems and the girls adopted him as they\u2019re Camino partners and adjusted their pace to make sure that he stayed OK! Such is the way of the Camino.<\/p>\n SOME PHOTOS OF DAY 1<\/p>\n Wild horses along the Camino<\/p><\/div>\n At the end of our first day, on the way to Val Carlos, we ran into a marvelous Australian couple, Linda and Dan. They were on holiday from Australia, where they work with their family to manage a large dairy farm. We enjoyed our conversation and said our farewell\u2019s not realizing, this being the Camino we would meet again \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n Dan and Linda<\/p><\/div>\n Day 2- Val Carlos<\/p>\n Our second day of crossing the Pyrenees begins.<\/p>\n First thing in the morning, we\u2019re up for our coffee and notice a lady traveling alone and heading out the door.<\/p>\n Although some Americans find this frightening, it\u2019s not at all unusual on the Camino to see ladies enjoying the Camino on their own private journey, we thought this lady was no exception.<\/p>\n A little over an hour later, as we begin to leave, we noticed the same lady wandering looking at her phone, looking up at the street signs and then repeating the process; seemingly confused.<\/p>\n Brenda approached her and introduced herself to Eva; Brenda found that our observations were correct.<\/p>\n it\u2019s commonly said that the Camino is well marked and we guess that\u2019s true if you know exactly where to look \ud83d\ude42 sometimes even in a small town, an arrow might not point exactly to where you want to go or there may be a few blocks with nothing and you just think you\u2019re on the right path such was the situation with Eva.<\/p>\n she started the morning, bright and early and headed from the patio of the Albergue to the sign across the street that pointed the way.<\/p>\n A few blocks up the street she ran into a gentleman and asked if she was on the right path. He said \u201cyes of course 500 m you\u2019ll see a group of dumpsters and there you\u2019ll turn to the left.<\/p>\n Several models later, she was both lost and confused. When she asked Brenda, we decided that we were ready to leave so perhaps we could all walk together.<\/p>\n Emma was extremely grateful and appreciative of our gesture.<\/p>\n As a Spanish native Eva Decided that having never attempted the Camino that was the time and she would take two weeks to do the first portion of the Camino. She had never hiked or had to worry about a map and the experience was daunting.<\/p>\n we walked with her for 3 miles to the turn (not the 500 m she was told) and we walked together an additional three or 4 miles. We stopped for a coffee. She thanked us with great appreciation and she continued on her journey. We didn\u2019t see her the balance of the day and hope that she finds the Camino she was praying for.<\/p>\n Eva<\/p><\/div>\n Pamela Ella and Richard were another couple we met as we walked strangely enough there from Austin! The Camino works in mysterious ways \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pamela Ella and Richard were another couple we met as we walked strangely enough there from Austin! The Camino works in mysterious ways \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n Richard has been 26 years in the education department of the state of Texas and they decided to take this journey, husband and wife sort of together.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Richard has been 26 years in the education department of the state of Texas and they decided to take this journey, husband and wife sort of together.<\/p>\n The journey has been a dream of Pamela\u2019s for many years, but unfortunately, Richard could only accompany her for his break from work, which would total only 14 days! Pam said she would not let that deter her and she fully intended to complete the Camino on her own. They were a fun couple who were wonderful company. We exchanged contact information and promised to stay in touch.<\/p>\n . They were a fun couple who were wonderful company. We exchanged contact information and promised to stay in touch.<\/p>\n Those of you who followed our last Camino may remember what Brenda described as a horrifying picture of my blister acquired in the first couple of days. Blisters are quite common on the Camino. Some people are prepared and some or not, my last Camino I was one of the latter totally unprepared.<\/p>\n As we walked, we passed a young Korean couple, always polite and always wishing us Buen Camino and Brenda twice mentioned to me that the young man was wearing no socks. Although unusual that\u2019s not unheard of on the Camino many people were hiking sandals we even saw one young man in flip-flops. It\u2019s fair to assume that people just know what works for them and there\u2019s a saying. \u201cIt\u2019s your Camino\u201d, meaning do your Camino your way \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n As the day were on the same couple would get ahead of us and then perhaps 45 minutes or an hour later we Would \u00a0see them taking a break, again, \u201cit\u2019s your Camino\u201c. We really didn\u2019t think too much of it until finally just before the final steep uphill climb we saw them sitting alongside the trail and he had his shoe off only 1 foot. I asked \u201cblister?\u201c he said I\u2019m OK his wife said\u201cBlister\u201c.<\/p>\n I got out my baggie which now contains every size and shape of a blister pack you can possibly imagine I offered. He said \u201cI\u2019m OK. \u201c Brenda said quietly to me \u201cjust like a man:-) he\u2019s not OK\u201d \u00a0. He thanked us profusely, began to put his shoe back on, and we said our goodbyes.<\/p>\n Had it not been for the nice gentleman in the bottom right of this picture we would\u2019ve gone several miles out of our way along a goat path to the top of the mountain! He saw is start to make the wrong turn and asked us \u201cCamino?\u201c with a smile on his face, he just pointed (in another direction) and said Camino.<\/p><\/div>\n Of course you would think just another chance meeting on the Camino As happens on the Camino Circumstance brought us back together at the hostel that evening, whereas we entered the bump ground we were met by a handsome young Korean man who looked at me with a big smile on my face and said \u201cit\u2019s my American angel\u201d! Just another day on the Camino with our friends. After months of anticipation and days of travel, finally step foot of the Camino, Thursday, September 18, hallelujah! After months of anticipation and days of travel, finally step foot of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-981","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/makena.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/makena.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/makena.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/makena.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/makena.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=981"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/makena.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1013,"href":"https:\/\/makena.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/981\/revisions\/1013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/makena.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/makena.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/makena.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a>
\nI asked to see it, and there was no question he had aBLISTER!
\n<\/strong>I reached into the bag and pulled out the appropriate size blister pack, and handed it to the Mrs and she began to apply it as we watched after she had placed it over the blister and pressed it on firmly his eyes opened up he looked up at us and smiled and he said \u00a0\u201cyou\u2019ve cured me.\u201d He thanked us profusely, began to put his shoe back on, and we said our goodbyes.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"