Didn't quite make it...

[rasampson]

Russ,  Thank you for sharing with the group. I plan my walk Next May and
have requested a two month leave of absence from work.  I plan a solo trip
but look foreword to meeting many along the way.  I plan to start at St Jean
Pied-de Port.  From what I understand there are three different  paths over
the Pyrenees to Roncesvalles. Is there a less stressful one for someone like
me who has not had a lot of Mt. hiking experience.  If I can go slow at my
own pace I trust I will be ok.  Is there a place to stop half way over or do
I need to go 19 miles the first day. Sorry if this is a dumb question.  Also
can I buy a Staff, cane stick in SJPDP.  I'm walking 8-10 miles 3x a week to
try to get in shape. My shoes are great and I plan to carry a light  load.
I'll be very careful when I buy the backpack.  My journey has begun here in
the US as I get in shape .  I look foreword to my journey.  Thank you so
much for your honesty, may be we will meet on the Camino.  Beverly







w Message -----
From: "Russ Irwin" <rirwinaUSAOR.NET>
To: <GOCAMINOapete.uri.edu>
Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2001 12:26 AM
Subject: Didn't quite make it...


> I've been debating for the past two weeks whether to even write here again
because I didn't make it
> the whole way and am just starting to come to grips with this fact. Now
though, I feel that I need
> to write this as a sort of "therapy" process for myself. In the end it
wasn't my legs that did me in
> as they, after the initial sorness and pain, became much stronger. It was
my back that did it. After
> two weeks of walking with a backpack that just wasn't designed for the job
(hindsight is great,
> isn't it), my back became so painful that I finally realized that in order
to keep from doing
> possibly irrepairable harm to it, I had to quit. I did make it to Belorado
though which is about 220
> Km and over a quarter of the way.
>
> Even considering the problems that I had, I'd do it again in an instant!
In ways that I can't
> explain in words, I found a fullfillment that I'd never experienced
before. Other pilgrims seemed
> part of a "family", and you could develope close friendships in just a few
hours that might take
> months or years to develope in your everyday life. Yes, it was a "way of
life" that I didn't want to
> give up. I'm already, tentivately, planning on going back next year to
pick up where I left off.
>
> I made rough notes of the days that I walked, but only have written out
the first day. Since there
> seems to be questions here about the walk from St. Jean to Roncesvalles, I
hope you don't mind if I
> include my first day here in this message. Remember though, this first day
is from "my" point of
> view:
> ---------------------------------------------
> Thursday 05/10/2001
>
> I arrived at St. Jean-Pied-de-Port late in the afternoon, eager to begin
my pilgrimage. Little did I
> know what lay in store for me in the days to come. It was a very long day
getting there with the
> airline flights and then the taxi rides from Pamplona. I obtained my
pilgrims passport, did a little
> shopping in town for fruits and bread to eat the next day on the road, and
was in my bunk at the
> refugio there by 8:00 PM. I fell asleep quickly but woke several times
during the night. Finally, by
> 5:00 AM, I couldn't sleep any longer. I was the first one up so I moved
all my things in stages to
> the common room upstairs to get my backpack all ready and packed for the
first day's journey.
>
> Friday 05/11/2001
> 23 km
>
> By 6:30 AM, after getting directions for the route I wanted to take the
first day (there were two
> routes to choose from), I left the refugio and started out. Of course,
after about 5 minutes, I
> became hopelessly confused on which way to leave the town. I trecked
around the little town for the
> next 20 minutes until I ran into a group of 3 other pilgrims. They were
Priska (Switzerland),
> Michael (USA), and Andrei (Canada). Priska said, "Walk with us, we'll find
the route.", which we
> did. I had read that the first day over the Pyrenees Mountains is the
hardest (if you start from St.
> Jean). That is so true. We started steep climbs immediately out of St.
Jean and I mentioned that
> before the day was out that I was going to have a walking staff, even if I
had to cut it myself from
> a tree. I fell behind a lot on the uphill parts and finally, after almost
5 hours of walking, we
> stopped at the only place there was that day for a late breakfast of
orange juice, bread, jam and
> coffee.
>
> When we continued I was hoping that most of the steep uphills were behind
us. Hah! They had just
> begun, and by then we were into a fog so thick that usually you couldn't
see further than 100 feet
> (Supposedly on a clear day you can see for 70 kilometers from one point in
the Pyrenees). The fog
> lasted most of the day and ruined most chances for pictures I had hoped to
take of the otherwise
> beautiful mountain landscapes to be seen. Shortly after our break, as I
was catching up with the
> others, I heard a voice coming out of the fog ahead of me, "Russ, we found
your walking stick!"
> Andrei had found it just laying along the side of the road. It was more
like it found me, and just
> at the time when I needed it most. It was just the right size and appeared
to have been cut from a
> hardwood tree as it was very firm and sturdy. It was to become an
invaluable aid to me, not just
> this day, but in the days to come, and (as only another pilgrim would
understand) my "best friend".
> Just when I would think that the uphills were finished, there would be
more - and then more! There
> were some tantalizing level stretches, but.... All of the walking that I
had done in the previous
> year was bascially on level ground. I soon realized that I wasn't at all
prepared for the steep
> climbs.
>
> Sometime in the afternoon we stopped for another break. I had an apple and
some chocolate. I was to
> eat a lot of both of these in the coming days. The apples for nourishment
and the chocolate for an
> energy boost.
>
> More steep uphills after the break, but finally we reached the peak of our
climb and were on top of
> the mountains. We took another break then before the DOWNHILL! Even though
I had read about how hard
> the downhill off the Pyrenees was, I had been looking forward to it as a
break after all the climbs.
> Was I ever wrong! Coming down off the Pyrenees is MUCH steeper than the
uphill parts, and is VERY
> punishing on your feet and legs, especially considering the weight of the
backpack you are wearing.
> I was glad that I had spent close to 6 months deciding on which shoes,
insoles and socks to use. My
> feet only hurt afterwards. In an email exchange last winter with a woman
who had walked it in 2000,
> she said that she completely lost 3 toenails in the downhill off the
Pyrenees. Now I totally
> understand how that could happen.
>
> Finally, at around 5:30 PM, we arrived at Roncesvalles. It ended up taking
11 hours to hike 23
> kilometers. My legs and back were crying for relief. I was exhausted and
exhilarated at the same
> time. Over the next couple of weeks my legs would evidentially work it all
out and become much
> stronger, but my back would be a different story. We got our pilgrims'
passports stamped and got
> bunks at the Pilgrims' Hospital in the Real Colegiate Monastery. This
refugio is one of the oldest
> on the Camino and was founded in the 12th century. I unpacked what I
needed from my backpack and
> spread out my sleeping bag on the bunk. While most refugios have pillows
(and pillow covers), they
> don't have sheets, so you need a sleeping bag, and most refugios require
them to sleep in.
>
> This place is supposed to have hot water but I guess that it had run out
by the time we got there,
> so I had to take a cold shower. Still it felt good. Afterwards we went to
the pilgrims' Mass at the
> 13th century Collegiate Church next door. Then it was time for dinner. In
Spain restaurants (which
> are usually a part off a bar) don't open till at least 8:00 PM, so the
timing worked out well as I
> like to eat shortly before I go to bed. In the refugios "lights out" time
is 10:00 PM, and that is
> when they lock the doors. I never heard anyone complain though, as by that
time most (including
> myself) were already fast asleep.