El Peregringo

Updated: October 19, 2006 with images of the bridge…

This had to be the easiest day so far. First of all, I had made all my training walks out of Pamplona along this route, so everything was complete familiar for most of the walk. It’s a pretty steep climb to the ridge of windmills and Zariquiegui just before the ridge. In fact virtually the whole climb is that one ridge. At the top there are 50-60 huge windmills at least. The state of Navarra supplies 60% of it’s total electric needs via wind power and as such is said the be the “greenest” state in Spain and among the most green in all of Europe. Given the stupidity surrounding wind power in Vermont, I find this actually pretty sad since we could do the same if we had the guts to do it.

The route today has taken me through some of the most beautiful little towns I’ve ever seen: Zariequegui, Uterga, Muruzábal, and Obanos. See photos of these locations in what follows.

   

Final destination was Puente la Reina - Gares. Gares was the original basque name of the village on the Arga river. The river is too deep to ford, so for many years, pilgrims had to pay to be ferried across. In 1041, the then current queen decided that it was time for a bridge, and sponsored its construction (which took some 40+ years). It’s a beautiful bridge and a beautiful village. It’s amazing crossing a bridge that’s been in place for over 900 years…

The Camino actually crosses the bridge–naturally since it was virtually the only away across the river.

In Puente la Reina I stayed in a brand new albergue in the basement of a pretty nice hotel. It’s new enough that not a lot of people know about it and there were only 3 of us there.