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After a short flight from Madrid, 15 kilometers, 4.5 hours along a ridgeline above the Bay of Biscay.
Now, I know my Spanish was no muy bien, but this had to make me laugh. I had slept for maybe an hour—in a bed, I had invested heavily in—rose early, then returned to the Madrid airport. Anyway, I got to the airport and checked my backpack (damn trekking poles), and I asked the woman at the Iberia Airlines desk where to find an ATM. That’s cajero automatico in Spanish. A confusing miscommunication ensued.
We went through it a couple more times and I apologized for my poor Spanish (the phrase I could say best). Then . . . and get this, she asked if I was asthmatic. Seriously? I said, “No, I just speak poor Spanish.” After another go at it, she gets what I want and says it perfectly. One needs the correct inflection on “caje.” It’s kind of coughed out. Sort of like drawing up enough phlegm to spit clear across the street. Amicably concluding our interaction, I went off in the direction she had indicated.
After the hour-and-a-half flight to San Sebastián airport, which is near Irún and at the French border, backpack reclaimed the trail beckoned. Within a five-minute walk along a two-lane highway familiar yellow arrows of the Camino pointed me toward Santiago de Compostela—833 kilometers (500 miles) away by trail.
The trail passed through a bit of community then immediately up to a ridgeline paralleling the Bay of Biscay.
Irún is generally considered the starting point of the Camino del Norte. Your trek to Santiago can start at the small airport, at the train station, or—if you are a purist—on the bridge over the Bidasoa River which connects Irún, Spain, with Hendaye, France.
Not far out of Irún, as you near the ridgeline, there is a choice: take the lower doubletrack trail—which is on the side of the ridge opposite the ocean or continue up a steep incline to reach a trail along the ridge. The upside (pun intended), it’s only a short three-hundred-meter climb. If it is a nice day and the rugged trail doesn’t dissuade you too much, climb to the ridgeline. As I climbed, fluffy white clouds resting on Pyrenean Mountain peaks topped vibrant, moist shades of green landscapes framing sky blues reflecting on a harbor dotted with moored fishing boats.
While you are considering your options beyond this viewpoint, check out the Santuario de Guadalupe near the top of your first climb out of Irún. This church is seen ahead as you climb.
On the last day of September 2019, it was about 27 degrees C (80 degrees F), and humid. The summit marker said 547 meters (1800 feet) before the trail continued west and downward to Pasajes.
At the Hostel De Peregrinos de Santa Anna, a donativo (for donation) hostel, the hospitalero (host), Juan, sunned himself out front and told me the hour when the hostel would officially open. The first pilgrim there, and quite warm sitting in the sun with Juan, I decided to go for a cold beer. Later, dinner with Amil an Italian man living in Barcelona and Juan, a Spain pilgrim, two guys I had met at the albergue (hostel). Unfortunately, Monday evenings all the kitchens close early. We managed to find some leftover tapas and decent wines to get by.
The views all day were spectacular. Back toward France, out to sea, the grasslands on the ridgetop, and toward San Sebastián. Magnificent at every angle, every turn.