I Would Walk 500 Miles: Day 1

Today was pretty miserable; I won't lie. We overslept and woke up 7:05. Not too bad since we were planning to leave at 7:30 anyway. The 16 mile hike through the Pyrenees was expected to take 7.5 hours. It's an elevation change of 4,000' and some inclines are 16%, blah. We left about 8 and were all layered up thinking it would be cold. There was 80% chance of snow at the top. After half an hour hiking that grade we stopped and took off our jacket and fleece, leaving just an undershirt and t-shirt with my hiking pants. This lasted the first two hours. Everything was what I expected. I had been comparing it to hiking the Grand Canyon trail in one day and it felt just like that.

Then came the wind... And the cold... And the rain. The higher we got the worse the wind, rain, and cold got. "Miserable" doesn't describe it. It was the worst hiking I've ever done and close to the worst I could imagine. Emily was saying it probably would have felt warmer if it were snowing. When we arrived at the albergue I went to sign my name on the registration and my handwriting looked like a kindergartner's. I couldn't use my hands correctly because my fingers were so cold. Emily's were the same.

But that's okay, because that's what I signed up for!

Here's what I learned today:

1. Irish people are nice.

2. Hiking is miserable rainy, windy, temps in the 30s.

Here's what I'm thankful for:

1. Hot shower

2. Having my laundry washed and dried for $2.70e (did I mention the rain got in my bag and almost every article of clothing was wet?)

Here are the pics from day 1