The Camino - The Pyrenees to Burgos

Beginning my Camino. This is in St. Jean, right outside the hostel.

I don´t know if you can tell, but this is STEEP AS HELL.

View from the top of the world.

This is Mimi and Jocelyn...Mimi is French and Jocelyn is from Quebec. They are 62 and 58 and are lovely. Mimi is the one with the grass hat she made herself. They saved me on the Pyrenees when I was trying to keep up with Hank and they said, ¨Slow down! He´s too fast for you.¨

Yeah. I´m a badass.

This is Hank (Karel, the Belgian) and Christa from Austria at the Fontaine de Rolánd on the Pyrenees.

Michael from Idaho, and Florian (Kasey Kahne) in Arres.

Felix and ¨our puppy¨ outside Arres.

This is at 9am on a Sunday morning in Pamplona. THESE people know how to party. This was taken about 20 minutes after the bull running.

Like any good American, I got a picture of this guy, who had just gotten somewhat mauled by the bulls.

Me and the sculptures in the Alto del Perdon above Pamplona.

The indomitable, the illustrious, the irrepressible Skip (Aussie, Aussie Ausbourne, Skip Norris, Brad Ball of Perth). =) And Michael from Idaho.

These seldom seem accurate, but they´re nice to see....

I´ve just used all my strength to push a needle through the leather of Skip´s heel, trying to pop a blister. The ones I popped were NOT the one that got infected, by the way....

My German boys and Skip. =)

Performing first aid on Skip´s broken pack strap.

Our puppy!! Isn´t she tiny??

Pilgrims spend a lot of time doing this. Skip and Felix.

¨So an Australian, and Austrian, and an American walk into a bar....¨ This is me, Christa, and Skip pointing out our homes on a map in a bar in Villamayor.

Kasey Kahne, Christa, Felix, me, Skip, and the Pamplonan king in Villamayor.

The monks heading out of Villamayor. The awesome shot I got of them in front of the building didn´t download, for some reason, so I´ll have to post it another time.

Al...the devil himself. =)

Skip, Kasey Kahne, and Felix (the German boys) as we sat and had a beer by the river in Nájera.

Me. =)

German boys doing what they do best. Kasey Kahne and Felix.

The Camino stretching into the distance behind me.

View from the bell tower at the church in Santo Domingo de la Calzada.

A mother-daughter team from Poland. How ´bout it, Mom?? =) This was the communal dinner in the church tower in Grañón.

Nico and Maelle, the French couple.

The Hungarian buccanneer.

Francois from Quebec and Federico from Florence. Federico is always happy, always laughing, always kissing your cheek...every bit the Italian.

This is pretty gross but I had to put Skip´s ankle in here....

Atop the Montes de Oca, heading up out of Villafranca.

Hiking...this was yesterday heading out of Atapuerca.

Yesterday in old-city Burgos.

These are the yellow arrows we follow. They show up on trees, rocks, buildings...they are our lifeline.

In the cities, the yellow arrows give way to these, which line the walkways along the Camino.

This was a welcome sight yesterday in Atapuerca, though I´m still 5k from its accurate point.



Well, that´s all for now, I suppose. This is the Camino up to this point. I´ve been in this café for 3 hours now...time to see this cathedral and get the hell outta Dodge. Stay tuned for yesterday´s report below.

Love you all and hope you enjoyed the pictures. =)