Day 3 - First Steps on The Way : Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Orisson

This morning, with little sleep and a great deal of excitement, between 3:30 and 4 am people began getting out of bed and preparing for our first day of hiking.  The movement of so many people, and our own excitement, soon led us to get up too, which meant that although we were the last ones to leave our room, by 5 am we were both ready to head out.  After a breakfast of bread, jam and coffee with our fellow pilgrims, we washed our dishes, grabbed our packs, and set off.  

As we stepped out the door, the albergue owner clapped Sean on the back and said "Remember, don't race like assholes, because assholes cannot walk!"  With that thought we headed out towards the church at the centre of town. After a brief moment of reflection we re-crossed the bridge, passed through the historic town gates at the edge of town, and began our climb out of St. Jean Pied de Port and up into the mountains. 

It was still dark as we began the steep climb, and as it started to get light we were initially somewhat disappointed to discover that much of the landscape was hidden by dense fog.  As we continued to climb however we soon began to appreciate the relief the cool mist and cloud cover gave us from what could have been a very hot, humid day.  Even better, the landscape looked truly magical through the mist!

When planning our trip, we had read a great deal about how difficult the Pyrenees were to cross, so we decided that we would only hike 8 km to Orisson on our first day.  We were hoping that stopping early on the first day, which is rumoured to be one of the hardest days on the Camino, would allow us to take a breather and avoid early burn-out caused by trying to do too much too fast.           

 

 

The path from SJPP up to Orisson began as a paved regional roadway, and after several inclines and switchbacks, we moved onto a well trodden dirt trail. The route was very clearly marked with a combination of signs and advertisements, white and red GR blazes, and yellow Camino arrows.  This made the way very easy to follow, allowing time for us to enjoy the magnificent landscape, blooming flowers, and extremely thorny yellow gorse bushes along the way. 
 

After about an hour of gruelling uphill climbing we took a welcome break for some coffee and juice at the Refuge de Huntto, located only about 4 km from SJPP.  While sitting on the patio enjoying not having our packs on, we were greeted by some of the people we had stayed with the night before, and stunned by other hikers whose pace suggested that they were facing no difficulties with the climb whatsoever.  Humbled, but wanting to push on, we resumed our climb through the morning's mist and surrounded by the glowing foliage.  

As we climbed we found a beautiful hand painted rock, encouraging hikers with "Buen Camino", and enjoyed many beautiful views.

 

 

 

 

Given the steepness of the ascent we took frequent breaks.  During these moments many pilgrims, regardless of their nationality, heritage, or faith asked if we were okay, or encouraged us by waving and saying "Buen Camino" or "Bon Chemin".  Needless to say, today's climb was harder than we both had expected, yet the reward and beautiful vistas made it well worth the effort. 

 

 

Despite the relatively short distance of today's hike, it nonetheless took us about 3 1/2 to 4 hours to reach Orisson, which meant we arrived around 9:30, still about 4 hours too early to check in.  The Refuge at Orisson is situated about 1/2 way up the French side of the Pyrenees mountain range, and it sits at the side of a small country road overlooking a beautiful valley.  It was from the vantage point of their patio that we passed several hours relaxing, watching pilgrims hike by, and enjoying coffee, Basque cake, and orange juice, as well as writing our post cards and journal entries for the day.  

 

When early afternoon arrived and we were allowed to check in, we were told that the place we had stayed at the night before "was rumoured to have bed bugs." This meant that we had to remove the clothing we would require for the night from our bags and place it in plastic bins that we could take with us to the dorm rooms, and then our backpacks were kept in a locked room for the night and returned to us in the morning.  It seemed that most pilgrims were being told the same thing, regardless of where their previous lodgings were.  After checking in we enjoyed warm showers (coin operated), washed our laundry and hung it up to dry on the outdoor racks, and went for a short walk up the road before dinner.   

While we had been showering and cleaning up a brief rain storm had again transformed the hills, and as a result cobwebs now held water droplets, fence railings and roadways were covered in snails and banana slugs, and a  fine beautiful mist slowly descended, adding magic to the landscape.  During our brief hike we saw wild horses and watched as wild pigs rubbed their snouts on a trail marker post. Throughout the afternoon the sound of bells on animals could be heard resonating across the hills.

 

 

  

 

By 6 pm we returned to the albergue and joined dozens of other pilgrims in the Orisson common room awaiting our evening meal, which was served at 8 pm. During dinner we met a young lady and her mother who were exhausted and questioning whether they could go on.  They had spent the last year training in Montana, much harder than us, but had never seen, let alone hiked, a mountain.  As a result, the Pyrenees were really rough for them and they were reconsidering their options.  We also met a wonderful group of four Irish ladies who were celebrating their lifelong friendship together by hiking to Logrono.  Also at our table was a lady from Denmark who was hiking across Spain after her divorce, and contemplating a career change, and another lady from Liechtenstein who was setting out for religious and spiritual reasons.   During the communal dinner, everyone was asked to stand up, introduce themselves, state where they were from and briefly why they were hiking, which led to a beautiful overview of the range of reasons why so many wonderful people had set out on this pilgrimage.  We were stunned by the sheer number of Americans, Canadians, and Australians, British, and Irish pilgrims. The meal itself consisted of a vegetable soup, homemade bread, salad, and red wine, and concluded with Basque cake.  It was all the more appreciated after the day's exertion.

By 10 pm we were all tired from the hike and the wine, and most people were in their bunks, hoping to get some sleep before continuing our ascent of the mountain range in the morning.  Tomorrow we are due to finish our crossing of the Pyrenees and arrive in  Roncesvalles, Spain!

 

 _______________________________________________________________________________

Practical information:

Distance: 8 km
Max Temperature: 29°C
Accommodations: Orisson (37.50 Euros per person including dinner and breakfast. Advance reservations required.