How long can it possibly take to walk 6 miles?

Day 4 Friday 30th April
Col Des Veaux to Bidarrai

The weather took a turn for the worse overnight - strong wind, thunder and lots of rain. Bit of a shame as the stage ahead had been described in the guide as one of the most vertiginous on the GR10 and slippery when wet. Also known for claiming more than its share of injuries. Anyway, to cut a long story short it was a challenging day mentally as well as physically and Graham certainly earned his keep - his presence made it much less scary and the sense of ahievement at the end was evident for both of us. It may only have been a short stage of about 7 miles but the nature of the 600m descent meant it took us between 6 and 7 hours.
Note to self: when checking the map remember to look at the gradient of the slope the path is crossing as well as the gradient of the path itself. It's not easy crossing a steep rocky cliff face!

A short stage in preparation for a tough one.

Day 3 Thursday 29th April
Ainhoa to Col Des Veaux 9.5 miles
Last night at the Hotel Oppoca in Ainhoa was really comfortable but for the humidity. We slept well and woke early (by our standards) as we wanted to get the hardest walking done before the sun was too strong. Even then we weren't ready to leave before 9 - tending to feet, sun protection, loosening up tight muscles etc take quite a long time but we're gradually getting into a routine. The weather played ball though. A thin cloud layer reduced the sun, the humidity had been blown away overnight and there remained a gentle breeze.
The first stretch was a bit arduous with the long steep climb starting outside the hotel before we'd had any chance for the muscles, a little stiff from yesterday, had had the chance to wake up. About an hour later and over 400 metres higher up we were rewarded with a fantastic view. After a further 3 hours of largely gentle ups and downs we arrived at our destination on the Spanish border ( though you wouldn't know it) at an altitude of around 600m. We were expecting very basic accomodation in a 14 bed dormitory attached to a farm. We found a newly converted farm building housing independent double rooms with en suite facilities. I think Graham was a bit disappointed. He's now snoring away (it's 3.45) having made the most of the large jug of vin de table that accompanied our typically hearty farmhouse lunch. The only other sound disturbing the peace is the munching mare and her foal just outside our room. All animals here are free range and we've
so far been visited by pigs, dogs, hens, horses, sheep and a cow. Somehow I think it will be difficult not to wake early tomorrow. At the moment they're mostly following graham's example and sleeping through the heat of the afternoon - the morning is unlikely to be so peaceful.

Sorry - no photos for now.

Because I'm sending these updates from my iPhone i'm not able to upload the photos. Haven't quite mastered that yet. I've taken loads. Think I may have to enlist the help of an accomplice at home who can
load them for me. In the meantime just imagine lots of green hills with mountains in the background beautiful blue skies pretty White and brown villages and a couple of hot sweaty vagabonds carrying excessively heavy loads.
And thank you to everyone who's sent messages. Just not possible to answer you all individually but I assure you they're very much appreciated. Keep them coming.

How can it possibly be this hot in April?

Day 2 Sare to Ainhoa 9 miles
We tried to make an earlier start today and succeeded in part. An easy day was planned and we were raring to go, if a little stiff. At breakfast our host announced that it was already 20c - a result of the warm Mediterranean breeze blowing today. It usually brings rain but this time not til tomorrow evening. It's been a beautiful walk through the rolling countryside and a particularly pleasant stretch through trees and dappled shade along a stream by the Spanish border. Ainhoa, our halt for the night, is another really pretty basque village. We've showered, slept, eaten well, explored and are now melting as we try to get some sleep. We have to leave soon after 8 tomorrow to beat the heat and to get to tomorrow's farm up in the hill pasture before it 's too late for lunch as there are no supplies on tomorrow's route. It's a short etape of about 7 miles but there's a steep climb at the start. Will be worth it though as we get to spend the afternoon On the tops.

How will we get on carrying so much on our backs?

Day 1 St Jean de Luz to Sare 12 miles
We feel as though we've been catapulted from the start of a very delayed spring right into a summer heat wave. It's probably not as extreme as that but the contrast is incredible. Fortunately my plan for the first week involves fairly easy stages to give me time to get into the swing of things and stregthen up a bit before attacking it with a vengeance. The first half of the walk s easy going but largely along country roads. Lunch was a delicious baguette bought earlier in the morning which we ate in a woody clearing in the company of the locals - the pottocks - the local wild horses. The second half of the day's walking was a bit more demanding across more undulating ground on rough tracks and cobbled pathways. And the heat was rising. We were glad to reach the chambre d'hotes soon after 4 and collapse for a while. The delight of the day though was to be walking through the lush Pays Basque countryside surrounded by wisteria and roses in full bloom and to be almost deafened by the croaking of frogs in the ditches all along the side of then paths. When we came to cross a little stream it was black with tadpoles. Sare is a pretty, traditional basque village. We enjoyed sitting by the central squpare savouring the view of the mountain backdrop and downing several beers before eating and returning to our bed for the night.

Complete relaxation before we start

Day 0 St Jean de Luz
I'm going to excuse the quality of this blog before I start since some time has passed since the day itself and memory gets overlaid with memory. We're also very tired this evening - it's still very hot and humid.
So, back to Monday. Determined to make the most of the day before the start of the walk we enjoyed the sunshine exlored a bit and sat on the beach. St Jean de LuZ is a pretty town with lots going on. The bonus for us was that we were there on the middle of a music festival and emjoyed some really high standard piano, violin and cello chamber music. A real treat.

How to get a quart into a pint pot!

The last week has been rather busy gathering final bits and pieces together that I think I might need and tying up loose ends before I leave, not to mention making sure I have contact details for anyone and everyone who I may need to contact, including suppliers of kitchen sinks.  The planning and anticipation are all part of the fun of the trip for me, but I'm glad it's almost done.  The biggest challenge so far has been how to get all this into a manageable rucksack with a weight I can realistically carry for 500 miles. 

Hmmm!

Well, after lots of rubbing of chins, sitting on the bed and thinking, weighing and reweighing, I've actually removed very little.  Luckily though, Graham is coming with me for the first bit of the walk, as far as St Jean Pied de Port, and what has been removed has largely ended up in his rucksack just in case I find mine is actually a bit light and I could carry more - I can have it back when he leaves!  Ha ha!  The trouble is, I'm not sure what the weather will do, how my body will hold up etc. etc. and I'm such a novice I've no idea what will be needed and what superfluous.  And I'm a bit of a sucker for contingency planning.  I've no doubt that Graham will end up bringing stuff back with him when he leaves me after the first week of walking, and that I'll be sending more stuff back a couple of weeks further on when the kilometres continue to take their toll.  Anyway, the pack is full and miraculously most of the stuff from the bed is now here....

At last it's almost time to leave, the planes are flying again and my kind neighbours laid on a lovely get-together to send me on my way.  This time tomorrow I should be fast asleep in St Jean de Luz, looking forward to a quiet day enjoying the lovely town before starting THE WALK on Tuesday.  I'm excited but also a bit apprehensive - this is by far the biggest physical thing I've ever done.  But don't we have to push the boundaries from time to time.

Oh, I almost forgot - just so you know where I'm heading, I've added the itinerary as a link on the right hand side of the blog page, and here's the view from Google Earth:

From my iPhone

Just a short blog tonight to see how I can email blog updates from the
iPhone. May be less costly this way bit even if it works it will be a
lot less fiddly to use a full size keyboard when I can. Enjoying
playing with my new toy though. Sorry if this peppered with typos.
Next thing will be finding out about taking and sending pics and how
to make the most of the mapping software I've downloaded and also
google earth. I think I could happily have become a nerd in another
life. Anyone got ant tips for really good iPhone apps to keep me
amused along the way?

Sent from my iPhone

One week to go - volcanic ash willing

Well, this is a new departure - blogging, I mean. One week to go til I leave for my long walk through the Pyrenees and the biggest challenges at the moment are the technology - setting up a blog from zero knowledge, Justgiving pages so anyone who wants to can donate something to keep me walking, getting the new iPhone to do what I want it to do etc.

Then there's the kit list to finalise to make sure no essentials are missed but that I can still carry the pack, not to mention watching the weather information to keep tabs on that pesky cloud of volcanic ash.

I'm a bit of a novice at all this - my only other long walk was the Cotswold Way last autumn - a kind of dry run, except that it wasn't that dry. So, if you happen to stumble across this blog in the next few days - before Friday 23rd April, I suppose - if you have any advice regarding equipment, playlists for the iPod, nutrition etc, feel free to let me have it via the comments section.

In the meantime, forgive the rather rudimentary nature of the blog for the moment. I hope to have time to make it look a bit better. I've no idea what it looks like right now as this is my first post and I haven't looked at the blog page yet.

Back soon, hopefully, with news of progress towards my departure next Sunday, 25th, with my very accommodating husband, who joins me for the first week.