Day IV: Pamplona -> Puente la Reina; 15.4mi.

The summer after I turned eleven, two of my older cousins from the east coast spent a few months living with us. They were active, excited about the outdoors and eager to explore Colorado; everything eleven year old me was not. They also ended up “in charge” of my younger sister and I on the days both of our parents worked. I spent the following ten years of my life believing, to my very core, that I hated hiking. Because when all you want to do is sleep in and play Zoo Tycoon but instead you get dragged on a lengthy early-morning car ride and then up a mountain, using your own legs, carrying your own food and water, in a million degree weather, you do hate hiking.

Fast forward to a hike I decided to go on during finals week my sophomore year of college, simply because I was better at procrastination than I was at hating hiking. Turns out, when you choose to walk up a mountain, distracted by conversations with good friends and then all of a sudden end up at a magnificent view, hiking isn’t so bad after all. I felt like an idiot. I’m still explaining to all of the people with whom I declined hike invitations or broadcasted my hate of hiking to why I keep ending up on top of 14ers .. and now, why I’m trekking across an entire country. (While I’m at it, to all of the people I looked in the eyes and promised I’d never like coffee, that one is still mostly true. I still don’t actually like coffee, I just like what it does).

Now seems like as good of time as ever to quickly brag about the fact that I joined a Garmin “weekly challenge” for the first time this week, purely out of curiosity. There’s still one day left. We have another approximately twenty-mile day planned tomorrow. I think Garmin is going to move me to a different bracket ..

🛏:

Albergue de Peregrenos, €5.

🍴:

Our albergue had a kitchen that we opted to use tonight. After walking through town unable to find an (open) grocery store, we stumbled upon a gas station where we bought everything pictured here (and an additional gallon sized bag of leftovers we put in the refrigerator for breakfast), <8€.

🎒:

For those of you who have seen the movie The Way or are familiar with el Camino, we were pretty thrilled (and honestly caught off guard) to reach this iconic monument today.

I was also ecstatic to discover I just so happened to be sporting all of my favorite Colorado brands. So here’s a shameless pitch for no other reason than I can’t say enough good things about any of these brands, the quality of their gear or their customer service.

Hat: Akinz, http://akinz.com

I went to Akinz the day before my trip in a frantic “I should probably bring a beanie along” realization. I walked into the store five minutes before it closed and the girl working was polite and patient while I found the perfect hat and even removed the pom-pom from this hat for me (because, refer to all of my previous comments and the above picture if you need a reminder of just how tight on space I am).

Backpack: Topo Designs, https://topodesigns.com

I remember looking at this pack in awe and exclaiming “I’m going to be carrying this around Spain for thirty-five days” as I handed over my card. I proceeded to practically skip out of the store .. until I got to my car and found a ticket for expired registration (actually I didn’t even see the ticket flapping on the windshield until I was halfway home), different story .. the girl who sold the pack talked me through all of the different packs they sold was patient and helpful and nearly as excited as I was and it made all the difference.

** the backpacks name is Leo, for the record

Pants: Mellivora, http://mellivora.com

These pants are made 100% out of recycled plastic water bottles and all photos are Colorado photos taken by an owner AND you can go on their website and read the story behind each photo used. I walked into a store that sells them and was devastated that the only pair left didn’t fit. The shop owner said she’d request a different size for me to try on and would text me when they showed up. Thinking it would be days, I continued on with my day and went to a coffee shop down the street. Within twenty minutes I got a text that they had been delivered. I wasn’t even done with my coffee (uhh .. I mean chai?) yet.

It should also be noted that I bought them from Thistle in Wellington CO, http://thistlewellington.com. It is quite possibly my favorite store in the entire world. (See above comments about Mellivora). There’s also the fact that I’ve spent enough time in the store to be social media (and maybe I’m disillusioned, but I think real-life) friends with the owner.

🎧:

“Pack light, love heavy.” – Aaron Watson; Bluebonnets (Julia’s Song)