Day 3 – Sare to Col des Veaux

August 31, 2019 – Departed 8:20 – Arrived 15:00

I had a bad night – maybe choosing the gateau Basque for desert yesterday wasn’t a good idea. My roommate was up at 6:00, and started his hike by 7:00 – it was barely daylight. I had breakfast at 7:00 and was ready to go by 8:20, which is not so bad. My goal was to arrive before the start of rainfall scheduled for later in the afternoon.

The first part of the hike was super easy. Quite a few roads and wide agricultural paths, all fairly flat. Pleasant though, with cows and sheep in pastures along the way, and nice streams next to the path at times. This got me to Ainhoa around 10:40. It’s a lovely Basque village, which I set out to explore. I had my snack near the fronton where a dad and his 5 year old were hitting the ball, visited the lavoir and climbed the church steeple (with my backpack on; unfortunately, there was nothing to see). The church though, like all the ones I have seen so far in this region, has inside balconies overlooking the central nave on each side.

The second part of the hike was a fairly steep climb to the Col des Trois Croix, which I managed to do quite efficiently. Yesterday I was complaining about hills, if I am going to complain then I obviously chose the wrong part of the country for my hike! But no, I am hopeful that after a week hills won’t be a challenge anymore. After the climb today it was fairly flat, but at 13:45 it started raining, which forced me to get the rain gear out. When I arrived here at the Ferme Esteben the backpack was dry, but I had transpired so much that my clothes were in a fairly sorry state. They will dry – hopefull, although the air is so damp that I doubt they will be dry by tomorrow.

This second leg of the hike was again in Pottok country. They also warn hikers about wild cows called Betizu but I saw only one. At first the path stayed on the northern side of the mountain, overlooking villages in the plain. But then it crossed to the other side, facing other mountains with mostly forests and the occasional meadow. I took a break on the side of the path; on the opposite side of the valley, well, well below me there was a bergerie with tiny horses and even smaller sheep. All there was to be heard were the bells of horses, a stream running at the bottom of the valley, and the occasional cry of a bird. It was beautiful.

Tomorrow is a short day to Bidarray, which is just as well since the forecast calls for more rain.