25-26 April Orisson to Roncesvalles to Larrasona 46km or about 30 miles

In 1805-1810 Napoleon sent his Army to to Spain over the route taken for the past two days. This route is a steady climb over 4000 feet for 32km or about 22miles. The common comment on this journey was "is this the last climb"? Typical whether conditions are fog, light rain, or wind. The days we traveled the weather was perfect. We could see for miles the valleys and lush farm land of France and Spain. It was two days of tired legs and very few rest stops just to make it to Larrasona. These two days are considered the most difficult of the entire walk, St James was good to us we had perfect weather. I might point out it was snowing on top of the mountain today, 27 April as we walk to Cizur Menor.

I had the pleasure of meeting new Pilgrims as we walked, one couple from Wisconsin , Julia and Harvey, walk with me for most of the distance and we solved only a few of the world problems but in reality we just enjoyed the views , the animals along the way and chit chat about why we were all here walking 500 miles. I told them about my 5th grade team and Julia came up with the thought of the day ... each of you need to learn a second language sooner than later.

We are walking with people from Ireland, South Africa, Australia,France, Spain, Belgium, USA, England, New Zealand, Canada and Italy. The common language spoken was French, Spanish and English. As the world grows closer we all agreed it was a good idea for US students to become fluent in some language.

Once we were in Larrasona we looked forward to the journey to Pamplona ending in Cizur Menor.
St James was giving us penance at the end the day as rain began falling and the forecast is for six days of rain and wind.

Oh yes sleeping with your closes 36 friends in an Albergue is an interesting experience, snooring, coughing and night walking makes sleep a little hard.