Across the Pyrenees

On Monday, I walked from France to Spain across the Pyrenees. No big deal.
41,638 steps.
15 miles.
24 kilometers
I walked up the equivalent of 441 staircases according to my Fitbit. We climbed from 450 feet (137 meters) above sea level to 4600 feet (1402 meters).

We left St. Jean Pied de Port a little before nine. We carried water, an orange and a ham and cheese sandwich hastily made by the lady behind the bar. 

Maurice, Earl and me - optimistic and fresh

Cloud cover as we started kept the temperatures cool.

We walked through one of the city gates on our way out of town

The town really runs on tourism for the hikers of El Camino.

The ubiquitous camino sign -- along with hiking boots and a walking stick

As soon as we got out of town, we faced a very steep climb up.

It's hard to capture the steepness of a climb

A woman walking in front of us with two walking sticks had stopped twice on the incline before we passed her. I told her I didn't think it was all like this, but I might have given her false hope. It was a very tough day of hiking.
Of course, I run. And I had run 7.5 miles a couple of days the week before. I thought I could probably do 15 miles hiking. I did, but it was not easy.
A young man who hiked with us for awhile said in his British accent, "It's just walking, innit?" Just walking but in extreme conditions.

A sideways hay field

Even as we climbed higher, the farmers continued to plow fields on slopes, planting and harvesting despite the mountains.

Sheep on the move

I loved watching a farmer move a flock of sheep down the road from one pasture to another. He drove his truck ahead of them (a little white van) and the sheep dog came behind, keeping all the sheep in line. Then we had to be careful where we stepped because of little black sheep pellets all over the road.
So apparently, I'm doing this again today, so I'll just leave you with some pictures.

Yikes. I got sweaty

Foxglove

In need of a trim

The edge of the world