To make your troubles go
Just keep on walking all day long!

Since arriving at Casa de la Abuela at 3 pm, I have checked in, made up my bunk with the sheet and pillow case provided, grabbed a responsibly long hot shower, gathered together the dusty clothes for laundry, hung laundry to dry, walked down the street for a cold Coke, booked a room for tomorrow in Logroño, discussed hiking strategies for tomorrow with bunk-room mates, answered e-mail, went shopping for trail snacks, had dinner with housemates, organized my pack for tomorrow…

Today’s walk from Estella to Logroño was 13.5 miles in 85 degree heat.

I have not seen a thing in Logroño, save some mad geese as I came into town.

Here’s the walk out of Estella. The lady with the dog asked if we wanted to take a picture of her dog:

So, let’s discuss the glamour of a Peregrino’s life on the French Camino.

Now an expert after six days and 130 kilometers — 670K to go — just kidding. I still have so much to learn about time management, foot preservation, savvy packing, booking rooms in advance, hygiene, map reading, hydration, and nourishment on the trail ….

But this is a fabulous network of people who share information back and forth with lightning speed.

It’s lights out here. My bunk room mates are leaving at 5 a.m. to avoid the heat. It’s a seven hour walk to Logroño.

So here’s some pictures from today, from Estella to Los Arcos, in some sort of order, I hope!

This is Jesus who fashions jewelry, sculptures, and more at his forge. Right after his shop is the free wine dispenser:

From here the path went up into the hillside and into the woods, a cathedral-like canopy of great charm and gentle slopes.

We stopped in Luquin for lunch after which the road moved into wide open farmland and unforgiving heat and dust.

And finally into Los Arcos which felt like an empty Hollywood movie set in the mid-day heat.

Others mentioned that there is rarely evidence of life in many of the small villages we pass through.