St Jean to Zubiri

A frosty start to the day leaving Roncesvalles

Camino January 2026

St Jean to Zubiri

Getting to St Jean

The flights were all good. We were on time out of Phoenix and Charlotte. The flight to Madrid was about half full, so I had all 3 seats to myself. We landed in Madrid over 30 minutes early, at 5:15AM. I think this caused problems as we waited on the ground for several minutes and then the pilot came over the speakers and said we had to park on the tarmac and go down a flight of stairs and on to a bus to get to the terminal. Oh, and the temperature outside is 29 degrees and the stairs have ice on them, so be careful going down. Getting off the bus we were in a very small customs area with 3 lines to check everyone through. I had plenty of time, so no problem.

My 8:45 flight to Pamplona was delayed 1 hour, so had even more time. I got off the plane in Pamplona and went to the taxi stand. No taxis. It is January 1, a holiday. There were about 5 of us looking for a cab. I tried calling the number on the sign – no answer. The locals were all calling other numbers and arraigning rides when a cab does pull up. About 4 parties rushed up to his cab and he asks who was here first. The people all turned and looked at me. I was there first. So it worked out well. Several other cabs were headed in as I was loading up. I think we landed 45 minutes late and they were expecting us to be an hour late. Pamplona only has 3 or 4 flights a day, so cabs come just when flights arrive.

I had dinner in Pamplona at an outdoor café. There were lots of people walking around, but it was 6pm and this was the only restaurant kitchen I found open. It was 35 degrees out. The food cools down quickly outside at 35 degrees.

The taxi ride over to St Jean Pied de Port is about 90 minutes. It is very windy as you climb over 2,000 feet to the pass in the Pyrenees at 3,500’. You then drop 3,000 feet to St Jean. I checked in at the pilgrims office. The volunteer has done 14 Caminos and was glad to see another “addict”. His word. He also loves the Frances route. It is by far his favorite. Speaking with him makes me feel less crazy.

St Jean to Roncesvalles

January 3, 2026

I have said I look forward to having a bit of weather. Well, it started right off. Today rained all day. It was 40 when I departed at 8am. I walked the 15.5 miles with over 3,000 feet of gain and arrived in Roncesvalles at 3pm and a temperature of 34 degrees. I decided to get a private room with the cold and rain. The problem is they don’t heat the rooms during the day. Last night in St Jean the heat came on about 8pm. They had given me a small space heater, which I put in the bathroom. Anyway, all good. A cold front is coming through for the next few days. You can just keep reading to see what happens.

I had to do the winter walk through the pass, same as last year. I met a young man from the Netherlands at the first and only stop of the day. It is about 4.5 miles in, on the France/Spain border. It is technically in Spain, but everyone spoke French. By car it is much easier access to France. My new friend does origami and plans to drop new creations all along they way. See the photos for his first “drop”. The only other Pilgrim I saw today was a gentleman from Korea, who does not speak English.

My miscalculation of the day was I thought I was at the top of the pass, when in reality I had 1.5 miles and 750 vertical feet to go. I was bummed. I was in the clouds, so you could not see any landmarks. While climbing, I got very warm because I was wearing a rain jacket. It was hard to regulate my body temperature. If I stopped, I cooled down very quickly because it was in the mid 30s. I would just walk slowly so I did not get too sweaty. I was quite damp when I arrived, and not because my jacket let the rain in.

Roncesvalles to Zubiri

January 4, 2026

I got the heat figured out last night. There is no thermostat, just a knob on the side of the radiator. I had it set too warm, so in the night I turned it off and that seemed to work well. The group dinner last night did not go as planned. The Albergue next door only had 6 people and they were seated in a separate room. It was quite a bit busier last year. I did see my Netherlands friend again. He commented about yesterday – “the hill that never ends”. So I wasn’t the only one.

This morning I met another guy at breakfast, not sure where he is from, but I think English is his first language.

It was a chilly day, 18 degrees to start, with a fresh breeze. The trail was quite icy in places as the rain changed to snow and then everything froze. The scenery was beautiful. After about 2 miles, I was catching a guy. He missed a turned and I yelled to him. He was listening to his headphones, but finally turned around. He is a retired airline pilot from Texas. He started with America West Airlines in 1987. (America West merged with US Airways, and is now American Airlines.) I worked for America West in 2001. We walked together for a bit, then I got ahead. We met again in Zubiri and had dinner together. He is only walking to Burgos this time and coming back in April to finish. This is his 4^th or 5^th time walking a Camino and he has no problem with the weather. He also commented about the climb yesterday. “Didn’t it seem like that climb just kept going and going?” We were all happy to reach the warm, dry lodging in Roncesvalles.

The walk today was very pretty to start. Everything had an ice coating to it. As we dropped in elevation the ice on the trees disappeared, but the walking was still very slippery for the first half of the path. The temperatures remained in the upper 20’s but the ground was no longer frozen as we got closer to Zubiri.

Not many pictures yesterday (rain) or today (cold).

Travel is the perfect catalyst for tolerance and acceptance. – Author unknown