Expected to be second toughest day. 740 m climb in a short 8 km distance. Slope very steep. Truly I was very apprehensive… will the training I did enough… expected rain so not sure how far I could see. It was AWESOME… weather held although at times strong winds and a bit of rain. Orisson is just an Albergue (hostel) holds over 40 people. I shared a room with 2 New York City retired firemen (one of them captain), retired Air Force pilot Colorado Springs, a newly minted Croatian lawyer, a retired Oracle high tech guy. Right from the first 10 feet some of took pictures at the gate and I met LJ and Carole (75&72) from NY State, we hit it off and we walked all day together. We had a similar pace and we helped each other with many things along the way…clothing mishaps, finding our way when lost etc. The views were spectacular. Listening to the quite, the birds, big horn sheep with bells on. It was priceless. Many emotional moments as it hit me this is not a training session/dress rehearsal. This is the real thing. The day was already emotional after reading a letter from each of my daughters and a card from Joanne. Their unconditional love and support and the strong connection we all have hit home more than ever. As I was approaching Orisson and realizing my legs and feet were doing fine…confirmation that my training did work … huge relief and started to give me confidence I did not have that I may be ok tomorrow, the toughest day regardless if I took the summit Napoleon route or the lower, less climbing but longer Valcarlos route (much better weather conditions). When I checked in at the pilgrims office in Saint Jean ( I got my first stamp in my Camino passport, idea is to get one every day until Santiago to get the Compostela proving you walked the 800Km) they told me that the Napoleon route pass Orisson is too dangerous snd that I should plan to take transport from Orisson (I paid for the night and meals and not refundable) back to Saint Jean and then to Valcarlos 8 km away on the second route on Sunday morning. So I booked the transport (Euro16).they just had an American girl airlifted from the high road two days go due to hypothermia, very cold and high winds. The owners of Orisson differed in their assessment and told us it’s ok to go up. At breakfast everyone except one couple took the advice and went onward and upwards on the napoleon route via the summit at 1495m (St Jean was at 170, I climbed to Orisson at 900). I stayed behind, had my pack ready to be taken by car to my hotel. On the last minute I texted LJ and Carole (my NY walking buddies) and they also decided to go for it. So at the last possible minute I cancelled the car transfer and started walking up to the summit with my new friends. Just realize I am already talking about Day 2. To be continued on next post. I took tons of photos. Here are a few, not necessarily the best, it is going to take me weeks to through them. I hope it gives you a small feel to my first day on this epic Camino walk. Thank you all who are taking time to follow my once in a lifetime adventure.
