Day 4 (23 April) A Soft Day — 15 Miles

Mother Nature has a mind of her own. She brought rain to Northern Spain. It rained lightly throughout day known as a soft day in Ireland. Raincoats, rain pants, and ponchos were on every pilgrim’s body and mind.

Whether rain or shine (thank goodness, no snow) brings an ambiance to the walk. The light is muted but colors stand out. Here is a mustard covered field of yellow just outside of Pamplona. Our challenge was to crest the mountain in the background — Alto de Perdon (755 meters). Did you see the walkers in the right lower corner of the image?

Our muddy mountain climb began in Zariquiegui. I had to take a photo of the sign below. It was the first time that I had see this singular message displayed in public. I wondered whether it could be shown in Florida, probably too woke.

After passing out of the town, we proceeded up the mountain passing a row of windmills. If you have read blogs from my Primitivo trip, you will recall how often I had encountered windmills in the Cantabrian mountains. When we crested the mountain, we passed by a metal sculpture honoring pilgrims and their battles with winds at the pass. Wind and rain, constant companions of walking pilgrims.

The descent was steep and rocky. Perhaps stony describes it better – lots of the them. Towards the middle of the descent after the steepest section, grateful walkers, I included, have tossed a stone on this pile that now envelopes a Camino sign.

At the bottom, I met John from Oregon who is on his first Camino. He will be going all the way. He retired from his job of 30 years. He is 58 and wanted to experience walking alone in a non- English speaking land. I was happy (perhaps with some slight envy) for him because he will have many more walks ahead of him. Although I plan on a multi-day a year, the options for the types of walks and their durations will lessen year by year.

We entered Obanos, another medieval town with close connections to the Camino – a story of murder and repentance from centuries ago. Here are photos of the main church’s alter, the gateway to the plaza mayor, and another free library. We were only 3 km from Puente La Reina.

Finally, after 25 minutes, we reached our destination with the traditional moment of celebration.

Dinner at the hotel was simple – a mixed salad and a baked fish with a caper tasting sauce. Pretty basic in comparison to some of my other dinners. Nevertheless, I was satisfied.

I took a stroll on the Main Street to the bridge that is Puente de Reina‘s namesake. Sundown had arrived. The river was calm. The area was quiet with no cars and only a man filling large water bottles at a public fountain behind me. A meditative moment.

As I walked back to my hotel (two buildings beyond the church tower), the town lanterns came on. They are electric but before such power was available, they were torches and a townsman walked the streets with a long staff to protect walkers. No need for a patrolman today as I passed locals talking at the nearby bar. Another day experienced.

Hotel Beidan: 2.5