Easy Hiking Day

Hiking Day 6 Gernika to Lezama

Miles today 14.1

Total miles 83.6

Ascent 1723’

Descent 1549’

Out the door and hiking by 8 am. The town of Gernika is much larger than we have realize as we walk about 1.5 miles before we reach the outskirts of town, Then we immediately begin a steep climb, first through a short section of mud and then a long rocky stretch that seems to last forever. We continue to climb until we gain over 625” of elevation.

The start of the day has been warm and overcast, but suddenly the skies clear and a fierce wind kicks up. The winds continue for a long while as we work our way through farmlands mixed with the occasional jaunt along forested paths. The day passes rapidly until we find our first coffee stop at 11 miles where we are joined by our American friends Elaine and Chris. They hike at a very similar speed but just a tad faster. The 4 of us have a similar breakfast time, and Scot and I are out the door typically a bit ahead of them but they always catch up to us after a few miles. We hike together on and off while they always finish the day just ahead of us. A great pair to hike with as we see only a few other pilgrims each day.

Following coffee and some tapas we continue along the Camino, walking a wide sidewalk along a two lane road the 3 miles to Lezama which is our stay for the night. It has been a relatively short and easy hike today. Tomorrow is a very short 7+ miles into the city of Bilbao where Scot and I will take a Zero Mile day on Wednesday, our first rest day after 6 days of hiking. Our bodies deserve the rest!!