Day 8 – Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Chalet Pedro

September 5, 2019 – Departed 7:40 – Arrived 18:50

I was ready early and left then. The path out of Saint Jean was a paved road meandering through the outskirts of the village, which as a warm-up I did not mind. This was followed by a very steep climb and more rural trails. Everything was wet, I assume it must have rained during the night. Then at 10:00 it started raining again. I got all the rain gear out, but fortunately the rain stopped after only 10 minutes.

I reached Estérençuby ridiculously early. The GR10 guidebok says it should take 4 hours to get there, I was there in 3. Not sure why, maybe the bread I ate at breakfast had magic powers? In any case I took a break on the steps of the church, removed my rain gear, and continued to my goal for the day, Kaskoleta, which I reached shortly after noon.

I had a bit of a dilemma with Kaskoleta. I had tried reserving a spot at the gîte the day before, had left a message but never got a response. On my way there, I met another hiker who had been turned away the night before – they were full. When I got there, there was a sign on the door: ‘I am away for the afternoon. If you have a reservation come in and choose a bed. I will be back by 6 pm to prepare your dinner’. I checked the dorm, it was tiny – only 5 beds – and as I wasn’t sure I had a reservation and it was still early and I was in good form I decided to continue towards my goal for the next day, Chalet Pedro. I cancelled my reservation later in the afternoon once I got cell signal.

I hesitated a bit to continue because another 6 hours of walking was significant. I also wanted the hike to be enjoyable, and above all safe – I was somewhat concerned with extra risks associated with walking when tired so I was extra careful. My next stop was a bivouac (camping) so I figured that of I got too tired I could just pitch the tent early somewhere else.

There were another two very serious climbs, the first one to Col d’Iraukotuturru, the second to Occabé summit. Both went well, when it got too steep I alternated walking and resting and this enable me not to be completely out of breath during the climb.

I spent quite some time at the cromlechs near the summit of Occabé. Cromlechs are circles of stones that date back 2000 or 3000 years BC. I love that stuff, I always find it a moving experience to contemplate and touch things placed here so long ago by humans just like us.

Something else that struck me today was the wind. As I got up higher through passes and summits the wind really picked up. Combined with elevation, and the overcast sky, this made for cooler temperatures, and I kept my jacket on top of my shirt all day. I also felt that the wind made me more tired than usual.

Finally I reached Chalet Pedro around 18:30. I decided that after all these efforts I deserved a reward. Chalet Pedro is a restaurant so I looked at their menu posted on the side of the road, settled on an omelette aux cèpes (scrambled eggs with local mushrooms) and a salad. Unfortunately I realized shortly after that the restaurant is open only for lunch, so I had begun salivating for nothing. Instead I went to the bivouac area half a km further down the road to pitch my tent.

The bivouac area is actually a pasture, complete with cows and cow patties, with half reserved for RV’s and the other half for hikers. There were three tents including mine. RV’s are 5 euros, hikers are free. On the other side of the road there is a not-too-good-looking building with washrooms and – wonderful surprise – free hot showers. I set up camp and had a shower, then had dinner – dehydrated mashed potatoes and beef which was actually quite decent.

The site is super windy. I hope that the tent will stay in place and that I won’t be too cold.