Day 2 - Huntto > Roncesvalles -22km

I'm hurtin .....
The walk / climb / trudge / crawl to Roncesvalles was physically the most difficult thing I have done in my life. The night before my Canadian friends had made arrangements for their backpacks to be transported over the mountain. To myself I thought "your not supposed to do that on the Camino"; a thought that I regretted most of the day.

Of course the Pyrenees are extremely beautiful. with every turn, a new panoramic view. And the sheep...well they a simply the highlight of the day; walking on the road with me and ringing their sheep bells, coaxing me on.

It become a mind game to not let the length and the steepness of the hills throw me into desperation. I would look up and see the top, which seemed terribly far away, and tell myself, "just to the top of this hill". I walked with my head down quite a bit, because to constantly be looking at how far away the top was made me feel weaker. Then when I would reach the 'top' it was never the top at all, but just a curve in the mountain, with another very steep hill about a quarter of a kilometer long, this went o. All day, except for the many times that I would stop and remove my bag and stretch. Here I am having lunch with Reine, from London England.

Throughout the day one thought kept repeating in my mind. "Slow and steady wins the race". I became the turtle of the Tortoise and the Hare, enjoying the scenery, and moving forward one step at a time. The great excitement came when it was time to start downhill the 3 km into Roncesvalles; that is, until the descent began. I'm not sue that I could say whether going up the mountain, or going down the mountain is more difficult. The descent was so steep that I had to shuffle along, inch by inch, making 3 km a very long way! With jello legs and aching feet, this was the most beautiful site of the day. Roncesvalles!