A new friend along the way.
Camino January 2026
January 5, 2026
Zubiri to Pamplona
The sun rises here at 8:47, so with the cold I plan to start about 9. There are no real stops along the way that are open, so you tend to just keep moving. Zubiri has two churches, so all through the night the bells ring on the hour, about 5 minutes apart. I was in an albergue, which are noisier, plus the bells ringing meant I woke up a few times during the night. People were up and leaving at 5:30. No idea why. There were about 8 people staying here. When I left there were 2 pair of shoes still in the shoe room. The bathroom is not heated at this place as well. Makes for a refreshing shower.
The restaurant next door was supposed to open at 8:30. At 8:45 there were 4 locals outside the door. I decided to start walking. The temperature was 20 degrees. My body creates a lot of heat while walking, so when I stop I cool down quickly. Today was a nice sunny day, but for the first hour+ I was in the shade of the adjacent hills.
Today is a pretty walk with gently rolling hills. There used to be a short road walk on this stretch, but they have a new path that parallels the road now, much nicer. We followed the Rio Arga all the way to Pamplona. At one point I stayed along the river where the actual Camino follows the road. I did not see any pilgrims out today. There were several locals out walking and a few hearty bike riders.
Arriving in Pamplona was fun. Tomorrow is Three Kings Day, but most of the festivities are the evening before. Groups travel around the city starting at 3PM. This is the Spanish kids Christmas eve. They open their presents on Three Kings Day. As I approached the main bridge over the Rio Arga into town there were probably 50 people waiting. I continued toward the main gate through the wall and a group of young people were headed toward the bridge, See photos. This same group were on one of the floats in the parade. At the gate there were well over 100 people gathered waiting for the next group to arrive. I walked right through the crowd of people, it was like they were my personal greeting committee. (At the very beginning of Pamplona (2 miles before the main bridge) I had stopped for lunch and to shop.)
I checked into a nice hotel. The rooms are heated all day, and the hallways and bathrooms are heated! Seriously though, this is comparable to a Hilton in the US, except it is $100 a night. They upgraded me to a premium room (which I think is just a little bigger) on the 8th floor (out of 9). I never heard anyone one else on this floor.
January 6, 2026
Pamplona to Puente la Reina
I am now writing on the morning of the 6th. I head to Puente la Reina today – 14.6 miles. It is the actual holiday, so everything is closed. I plan to leave about 10AM. I booked a room 2 days ago at the only lodging in town. I have been booking 48 hours ahead this trip. I am still trying to figure out where I will stay in 2 days as the place I stayed last year is not open yet. I sent an email to another place but have not heard back yet. I will try calling this afternoon, but my lack of Spanish makes phone conversations difficult.
Today will be a beautiful start. We got an inch of new snow last night. It is supposed to get up to 40 today and then return to the normal mid 40s going forward.
OK, I am now in Puente la Reina. The morning was beautiful, 32 degrees and no wind. Being a holiday the streets were very quiet, but there were lots of walkers out. Last year I walked out of Pamplona in a steady rain. The path up to Alto del Perdon was very muddy. Today there were no mud problems. Everything was frozen. And the winds picked up as I climbed. The forecast called for it to clear at noon, but is started snowing again at noon.
It did clear, but the strong winds persisted all afternoon. After such a fun eventful day yesterday, it was a bit of a let down today. There was no place to stop and get out of the wind, so I walked the 14+ miles with no stop longer than a couple minutes.
I think I am the only person here at this hotel tonight. I thought Texas would be here. Not sure where he went. Being a holiday the bar was very quiet tonight. Puente la Riena is a small town. Tomorrow I will be in Estella. They have 14,000 people, so stores and restaurants will be open.
January 7, 2026
Puente la Reina to Estella
Today was another fun day. The temperature to start was 24, but no wind or precipitation. It was a bit overcast, perfect for walking. Shortly after leaving Puente la Reina I caught “Big Pack”. He is not very talkative so I just kept going. The walk was mostly dirt surface with one good climb before reaching the first town.
Shortly after, I see this big colorful bird flying around a field. It didn’t make sense till I turned the corner and there was a gentleman standing in the path and the parrot (named Coco) landed on his shoulder. There were two other pilgrims as well, but they left before I got there. See pictures.
Soon I came to the village of Cirauqui. Outside a small store were 3 pilgrims. A guy from Argentina, who lived in the US for 30 years and now lives in Spain. I met him after day 1. A woman from Holland and a gentleman from Germany. All are 50 plus. They were raving about the chocolate croissants, so obviously I had to try one. They were literally hot out of the oven, the best croissant I have had on a Camino. I actually went back in and had a second. Big pack arrived just as I was leaving. We all walked loosely together the rest of the day. These people are all interesting for me. Travelers, etc. Argentina walked the Appalachian Trail 3 years ago. Germany started walking from Frankfurt. Last week Holland was riding a bike in Vietnam with her husband, now she is walking her 8th Camino.
This year’s group of walkers are quite different from last year. Much older, only one Asian so far, and only one woman so far. I am not sure where Texas is. One of the others thought he may have stayed an extra day in Pamplona.
When we arrived in the town of Villatureta we all stopped for a break. The café had a Roscon de Reyes. A round shaped sweet bread enjoyed on Three Kings Day. You have to buy the entire bread, so I had never tried it. Since we had a group, I bought one. In the sweet cream filled middle is hidden a king and a bean. If you get the king, you get good luck for the next year. If you get the bean, you are supposed to get another Roscon de Reyes next year. Argentina grew up with this tradition. While I was cutting the pieces I saw the king, so I gave him that piece. Ironically, I ended up with the bean, so I guess I will have to come back next year.
I was looking forward to having Chinese food once arriving in Estella. Cooper and I went there in 2024 and I ate there last year. Unfortunately, they were closed.
Travel is the perfect catalyst for tolerance and acceptance. – Author unknown
Gary and Elizabeth's Adventures 