One could say that our Camino began last autumn when Anne was reluctantly considering a total right hip replacement operation. Ed said, if you have this done,  we can go on another Camino! And so, Anne proceeded with a wonderfully successful procedure in November 2023 resulting in a pain-free hip and restored mobility. In spring 2024 Ed began detailed planning for the Camino.

Nine years ago we walked our first Camino de Santiago de Campostela, starting on April 29, 2015, the earliest date the pass over the Pyrenees from France would be clear of snow. That walk unfolded the beauty of spring in front of us. We are curious, this time, to experience autumn.

Leaving our hostel in Aurizberri (Espinal in Spanish), a tiny Basque hamlet near Roncesvalles, on Sunday morning, we stretch our pilgrim legs. Soon, we are challenged with rough passage, scrambling up rocky ways, picking down steep descents. After Zubiri there was a long,  harrowing, steep downhill over razor-sharp teeth of limestone which went on forever.

My app showed 40,000 steps for 24 km (15 miles) and we were happy indeed to rest at Casa Tau (shades of St Francis, who is associated with the Greek letter tau resembling a cross) in Larrasoana that night.

Green trees with occasional splashes of red and gold are what we see. There are significantly more fellow pilgrims (peregrinos) than our 2015 experience, bearing out the reports of 240,000 on 2015 to a projected 400,000 this year. It’s more difficult to find interludes of silence on the path. So many are traveling in pairs or groups with at least one member who talks incessantly. Some are loud.

More than ever, we appreciate silence. Silence, a language of God. Silence, into which may intrude a tiny whispering sound. Silence, in which one may hear the music of the air and the water and of the cosmos.

The next night’s rest is in Pamplona where we find a weekday seven pm mass in a modern church surrounded by condos. It’s good to see a healthy turnout in a modern, functioning small city, in contrast to many of the Camino hamlets which are largely deserted except for one or two albergues (hostels) and one bar (primarily,  coffee, although sometimes the locals have a morning shot with their coffee).

More next time.