St. Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles


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Day 1 St. Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles

Tuesday 26th March 2013

27 km - 7hrs 45 mins

We had been told categorically by the Confraternity office in St. Jean that the Napoleon route was closed due to a remaining 1 meter of snow, and that under no circumstances should we attempt it. They also put crosses on the map for the Valcarlos route where they said passage was difficult and we should go via the road. Whilst they may have been somewhat cautious on the lower parts of the Valcarlos route, there were correct towards the top and the Ibaneta pass where snow still remained making passage hard work, if not impossible.

The workload for the Valcarlos route is heavily stacked towards the end. I reached Valcarlos in two and a half hours and Gainekoleta in three and a half hours, the latter being well over three quarters of the way up in terms of distance. But the serious climbing starts after Gainekoleta, especially if you are walking up the road and have to navigate the hairpin bends and the long stretches of road between them. All in all I took seven and three quarter hours to reach Roncesvalles, which was quite a brutal introduction to the Camino on day 1....... and this was via the valley route not the high route!

My walking companion David Myers managed it in six hours, although the toll it took on his body to do it at that speed was to have effects in the coming days, particularly with blisters.

Mick and David ready to start from Hotel Itzalpea, 7-30 a.m.

St. Jean Pied de Port high street much quieter at 7-30 a.m.

The start is a continuation of the high street, but we followed Martin Sheen's footsteps
and went over the wooden bridge.

A last look up the high street

After passing out of the town gate and through houses, the path goes off to the right here

You soon enter open countryside

Gentle incline but with inspiring mountains in the distance

Lush green countryside

People may pooh-pooh the Valcarlos route in favour of the Napoleon route, but it is actually quite pretty.

Benta Xabi shopping complex at the border between France and Spain. 1.5 hr to this point.

Benta Xabi

2.5 hours to Valcarlos

The church of Santiago Apóstol, reconstructed in the 18th and 19th centuries after the old
church was destroyed in the war against the French Convention.