Undués de Lerda to Lumbier 25.5 km

Elevation gain 43 m

Elevation loss 252 m

Total distance walked 402 km

After walking for over half an hour the wind has really picked up and is quite chilly.

The lovely breeze that kept us fresh in the latter stages of our walk yesterday turned into a very strong gusty wind after we arrived in our destination. The hospitalero told us that the area is often very windy particularly in the winter. He also mentioned that there were 42 inhabitants of the village, which is immaculately presented – all the stone buildings are perfectly finished, there is a massive church and even a sign for a swimming pool. He also told us that this village is on the dividing line between Aragón and Navarra.

I was pleased when I poked my nose out of the door this morning that the air was still and calm although it’s quite fresh with some cloud and a bright sun

I’m not at all surprised to be on a very steep narrow track out of the village, overgrown with dog roses and honeysuckle with a very sweet scent. But mostly the tracks are wide with fairly smooth gravel.

There’s a downhill pattern to the walk for the first section of 10.5 km into the town of Sangüesa.

Aesop may have concluded in his fable about the wind v the sun that gentle kindness works best to make a man remove his coat, but I can assure you that the opposite was true the morning. The wind was definitely the dominant factor in me stopping and putting on my fleece for only the second time on this camino. It’s my habit to start off the day in shorts, sleeveless T-shirt and arm warmers and with a thin cotton scarf across my shoulders and that is how I set off today.

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The North Wind and the Sun

The North Wind boasted of great strength. The Sun argued that there was great power in gentleness.

“We shall have a contest,” said the Sun

Far below, a man traveled a winding road. He was wearing a warm winter coat.

“It will be quite simple for me to force him to remove his coat,” bragged the Wind.

The Wind blew so hard, the birds clung to the trees. The world was filled with dust and leaves. But the harder the wind blew down the road, the tighter the shivering man clung to his coat.

Then, the Sun came out from behind a cloud. Sun warmed the air and the frosty ground. The man on the road unbuttoned his coat.

The sun grew slowly brighter and brighter.

Soon the man felt so hot, he took off his coat and sat down in a shady spot.

“How did you do that?” said the Wind.

“It was easy,” said the Sun, “I lit the day. Through gentleness I got my way.

~~~~~~~~~~ // ~~~~~~~~~~

Someone described Sangüesa in a very derogatory way, but all I can say is that he couldn’t have walked through the town by the same route that took. I found the old quarter very charming, with some very old and beautiful buildings. Very soon I am crossing over the river Aragon again and turning right onto the main road NA8603 which merged with the NA127. It’s not overly busy but what traffic there is thunders past at a great rate. Luckily there’s a very wide shoulder to walk along.

Marilyn walked the first section to Sangüesa but is still struggling so sensibly took a taxi to the stage end.

The official camino route departs from this road after just a few hundred metres. But we are planning to walk through a magnificent gorge famous for its vultures and that entails a four or 5 km slog along this road. Not very pleasant walking but at least it’s easy

Once I reach Liédena at 16.5 km some yellow arrows appear, which is reassuring.

There is a rough gravel track leading towards our prize running along the path of the former tracks of the electric train linking Pamplona to Sangûesa. We have Rio Irati to our left and soaring cliffs to our right until we reach a tunnel after 20 km

I had soaked my scarf in a fountain close to the tunnel as the sun was now winning the battle but when I got inside, I regretted it dearly because it was absolutely freezing. I now fully understand the term ‘wind tunnel’. It was quite long and in the middle I couldn’t see any light at either end.

I caught a couple of pics with my camera. My phone tells me they are Griffon Vultures.

There’s another shorter tunnel at the other end of gorge and by the time we exited we had walked just over 23 km.

And when we arrived at Hotel Irubide in the town of Lumbier our total distance was 25.5 km

We are staying in the hotel as there is no albergue accommodation here. The cost for a triple room is €85 which is a bit stripey but we don’t have any choice.

And tomorrow there are no services all along the way so we have had to buy supplies for sustenance.

Apologies for the delay in posting, I felt quite poorly yesterday afternoon with a head cold.

Av. Bijues, s/n, 34 948 880 435, http://www.hotelirubide.com, pilgrim rate for triple room €75, good reviews.

There’s also a camping site in town, 34 603 341 354,camping-iturbero.negocio.site (website not useful) no info on cost