Saint Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles – 26km (1,200m ascent)
6C
Terrain: mountains!

I am in Spain!!! It’s difficult for me to absorb that my little legs have carried me over 2,500 kilometers so far across five countries. Lots of wonderful highs and lows and I’m now here in the 6^th and final country on this #vivrunseurope challenge. Woohoo!

Still just over 1,000 kilometers to go, here I come Spain.

And what a day it has been. To be in nature and in the mountains is pure bliss. I’m not going to even begin to describe the beauty up there but here are some pictures to give you an idea.

Bob was sent ahead again (still being lazy) and while I generally don’t believe anything is impossible, I think today with Bob may just have been, so a good decision.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazing things happen in life. I was quite frankly scared of taking on the Pyrenees on my own. Not due to the physical aspect, the elevation today wasn’t particularly high, but due to the weather (I think I had reason to be). I don’t really have any experience of mountain life, apart from a bit of skiing, not quite the same thing!

I’d decided to take the Saint Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles route because it’s part of the pilgrims route and thought I might be able tag along with some pilgrims.

So yesterday night I stepped into the pilgrims refuge hoping to find someone. Two chaps were sitting there. Explaining my dilemma, a man called Philippe agreed to take the route with me (there are actually 2 ways to get here, the more challenging way with higher elevation and better views – the one we wanted to take – the other route follows the road) and we agreed to meet at 7.30 am this morning.

What a wonderful man, I couldn’t have found a nicer person to share today’s experience with, it really is funny how things turn out sometimes. Lots of interesting conversation, he’d been in the equivalent of the navy so had seen so many places and was continuing his pilgrimage to St Jacques de Compostelle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At one point, with my teeth chattering despite many layers, he even loaned me a fleece of his and made some soup and coffee in a small refuge to warm us up. So very grateful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First Spanish town…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First bit of Spanish grub. Carbs and protein in one dish, what more could you want.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had to fight the fear today. Gusts of wind were quite literally taking me off my feet and we were pretty exposed at times. There were moments when all I wanted to do was stop and hold on to a rock. Not possible. The cold would have been even worse and quite dangerous so I just needed to fight through. Had I been alone I think I would have freaked out a little to be honest but just having someone there as a companion was calming. The wind was so strong at times that we couldn’t even hear each other despite shouting, it was like a train coming through.

This being said, I feel a real sense of achievement today, not just at having reached Spain but having pushed through my fear and kept going. A lot of this challenge so far has been about that.

I am of course dedicated to the cause of raising awareness for the plight of refugees and raising funds for the British Red Cross but this is also about pushing my limits and seeing where I end up.

I really believe that in life, many of our limitations, we actually impose on ourselves. Largely due to fear, over-analyzing, finding reasons we might not be good enough. I’m also very guilty of this.

A friend recently posted this quote which I love:

“What if I fail? Oh, but my darling, what if you fly?” ~ Erin Hanson

Each and every one of us can achieve more than we believe we can. I’m not necessarily talking about sporting achievements, I’m talking education, art, music, our professional lives, the list goes on, #pushbeyond.

A wonderful day. Thank you Philippe for being a fabulous companion.

Thank you also to everyone who has supported me with kind messages and words of support so far. It really does mean so very much. Huge love to all.

PUSH BEYOND

BE GREATER THAN YOU THINK POSSIBLE