When it comes to Spain,  I think we all have preconceived notions of the weather – hot, dry and dusty (think Clint Eastwod and the Spaghetti Westerns). Day three into my Camino these weather fantasies were shattered and the first trials of my pilgrimage began in earnest.  Of course I had packed for foul weather with full rain gear and a poncho, but nasty headwinds combined with mud and water flowing over the Camino was not exactly in the guidebooks!

Departing from Roncevalles and descending into the Basque Country of Spain, I deployed my cheap green poncho 30 minutes into my journey.  By late afternoon the wind had shredded it.   I walked with this guy from Czechoslovakia named Florio and his  rain gear program consisted of an umbrella which was completely foolhardy.

I met up with this German guy named Reudiger later on Sunday afternoon,  which turned out to be the most treacherous day of the Camino. That’s the trail behind us completely overflowing with water.  Every stream crossing  required extreme caution and one crossing required throwing our packs over first and then leaping over and catching each other!  Fortunately the wind and rain abated in the late afternoon and I found the Albergue San  Nicholas in Larrasoina, Spain.  We had  great night with a fun group of French, Italians, Americans and South Africans.

Mercifully,  the weather remained calm throughout the next morning as we descended to Pamplona, and as we dropped in elevation the flora blossomed with the first budding signs of spring.

On the way to Pamplona, I walked with Daniel, another cool guy from Germany with flawless English and a sarcastic sense of humor.  Daniel is a rescue helicopter pilot who has trained extensively in the U.S.  and he was up to speed on the whole American political scene,  which made for some entertaining conversations as we rolled into Pamplona.  It rained steadily all afternoon and evening in Pamplona,  and frankly the city felt like a deserted ghost town.   The highlight for me was the Cathedral, which was a maginificent gothic panorama of catholic history.

On Tuesday the rain and wind whipped up again in earnest and it seemed every step was a battle.

The photo above is a famous landmark in the Camino, Perdon Pass,  but as you can see the landscape was a wet, windy and a muddy mess.   I took one photo and shot over the pass to the downhill side to escape the lashing wind and treacherous trail conditions.   Could it get any worse?    Was I really prepared to walk another 400 miles in these crazy weather conditions?

Answer to that question: yes, because what is truly amazing about the Camino is the human kindness waiting to uplift you when your spirits hit the floor.  When I finally staggered into my next Albergue in Estella, Lou and Maria were waiting for me, and literally asked me to test their new IPA they had on tap.  Thank you GOD!  That evening I received a pilgrim blessing from Father John Micheal at the Iglesia of St.  Micheal in Estella and then went to Mundo for dinner and enjoyed A fantastic vegetarian feast prepared by two cool Dutch sisters.

The next morning (Thursday),  knowing I had 27k stretch in front of me, I hit the Camino at 7:30 am and stopped into the Namaste cafe in Estella for breakfast.  Lourdes was waiting for me and prepared a fantastic morning meal with a perfect cafe au lait  – another Camino angel!

One final memory of an amazing day today.  20 minutes outside of Estella I picked up the whiff of smoke from a burning fire and within moments I roll into the workplace of a blacksmith forge.  Jesus, the blacksmith was creating stunning iron souvenirs with his hammer and anvil and I purchased a scallop shell Talisman for my journey. Another day, another slate of memorable human interactions on the Camino!