September 28, 2001
Roncesvalles- Larrasoana sunny morning/rainy afternoon
16.8m/26.9km - 31m/49.6km

Today my legs are sore and ache but the walking is not as hard as yesterday. Still climbing up and down but we are over the highest peaks. The countryside is beautiful after the starkness of yesterday's landscape. The higher mountains were rocky with ground hugging plants spread across the valleys like a Berber carpet. Today, the variety of plants and trees, along with the kaleidoscope affect created by the different hues of green, make this section feel lush. At one point we walk on a dirt path that passes through a tunnel of green shrubbery. The sunlight seems to dance as it bounces off the leaves.

We stop for lunch in Espinal and P orders two tortillas. We are both surprised when she is served a large egg omelet instead of two flat round pieces of bread. Tortilla means omelet in Spain. It begins to rain and by the time we reach Zubiri it is raining so hard we decide to stop and wait it out in a bar. A half hour later the bar is full of pilgrims coming in out of the rain. The bartender tells us the rain is only going to get worse and that we should plan on spending the night in Zubiri. Some people decide to stay but P,B, J, T, and I decide to keep on walking. We set off and about a hour later the rain stops.

We arrive at Larrasoana just after dusk. The mayor of the town welcomes us to the refugio, which is in the town hall. In his office he keeps a book signed by pilgrims that have stayed in the refugio and listing where they are from. Taking care of the pilgrims who stay in his town is a very important part of his job as mayor. He is very proud of this. Signing the book is a way of thanking him, so we all line up and takes turns signing it. We then drop our packs off in the refugio office and head to a bar/shop at the end of the village for dinner. We end up sitting at a table with a group of Australians and have a very enjoyable meal. At this point I am so tired I cannot eat all the food that is put in front before me and the owner is a little upset. I think I am going to have this problem for the rest of the walk since I lose my appetite when I am tired.

When we get back to the refugio we are lead outside to another door in the building and up some stairs. I think we are in a private house. We are put in a room with five mattresses laid side by side on the floor. We each pick a mattress and spread out our sleeping bags and 15 minutes later are asleep.