This was one of my favorite days. Sun on and off but no rain to speak of. Gusting wind but great temp for walking. We are still coming down from the mountains but today things have flattened out a bit. The scenery is fantastic. Looking back at Arres. High on the right side of the mountain.
Looking back over a field of Poppies with the snow covered Pyrenees from whence we came.
Of course the only place for lunch is a little town of Artieda (about 1200 m uphill).
We all walk at different speeds but usually are only half hr or so apart so often meet sometime during the day; however, we have one man who is 73, a mountain guide who has lead expositions in Peru and Nepal and is married to the women with the sunglasses on her visor. She arrived at the lunch spot and says she has lost her husband...he obviously decided not to climb the hill for lunch but was so far ahead of her that she didn't see him continue on. When she got to Ruesta he had already been there for 2 hours wondering where she was.... He is fast.
Two interesting things on this section are the strange badlands scenery..I think it is limestone mounds...like a moonscape.
The other is the Yesa Reservoir damming the Aragon river started in 1928, opened in 1959 but remains highly controversial. After 20 years of debate it has been given the ok to raise the water...thus the reason for the protests as it will effect many towns and the Camino.
Then there was the last steep climb up to Ruesta for the night.
Ruesta was an important medieval village guarding the frontier between Navarra and Aragon. There are remains of a fortress, constructed by the Moors. It had a pilgrim hospital there in 1087 and today the pilgrim Albergue is the only thing in the town. The town was abandoned in 1959 due to the anticipated effects of the Yesa Dam.
My camera iPad connector stopped working...... Oh no....and had some great pics of the ruins where we stayed.
No comments:
Post a Comment