La Sportiva Trio
Day 4 Pamplona to Puente la Reina
Miles today: 15.5
Total miles: 61.3
Elevation gain: 1338’
Descent: 1662’
Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present. Jim Rohn
Footwear on the Camino is an interesting topic. We have seen everything from lightweight running shoes, to various styles of low-cut and mid-cut hiking boots, to full on high top leather hiking boots. Interestingly, for the three of us, we all ended up wearing La Sportiva mountain shoes which are made in Italy and are a sturdy but lightweight cross between a low cut hiking boot and a running shoe.
Why did we choose this shoe? It was for various reason for each of us, but we were all looking for a sturdy soled shoes that was NOT waterproof. We wanted non waterproof for a very simple reason. When it is really raining, every shoe eventually gets wet whether waterproof (think Gore-Tex) or not waterproof. Once a waterproof shoe gets wet, it can take 1-2 days to dry out. A non-waterproof trail type running shoe will dry in a few hours or certainly overnight. So far we have had some to a lot of precipitation every day and our shoes have gotten wet and even completely soaked. One night we washed and scrubbed our very wet and mud covered shoes in an outside sink. Within hours they were dry. We all love our La Sportiva Akyra’s. Thank you to our prior Camino friends who insisted on us using not water proof shoes. It has been a good decision with zero blisters thus far! We are the La Sportiva Trio!
This morning at 8:30 we left our hotel in the heart of Pamplona and walked 3 miles across the city before we entered the country try side trails. It was a glorious morning with our first sunshine filled skies as we climbed almost continually for 9 miles to reach the top of Sierra del Pedron (Mountain of Pardon) where we were greeted bu huge steel sculptures of Pilgrims from the past (see photos). The view was awesome with expansive valleys and distant snow capped peaks. We hear that Leon, 10-12 days away along our path just received over two feet of snow!
Leaving the mountain top was along a very steep and river rock filled course. We watched as a very young woman walked the entire steep downhill backwards as her legs were too sore to walk forwards. Eventually the path began to level off but was generally downhill for the last 6 miles. About a mile from our destination we had a heavy downpour that lasted 15 minutes and continued our streak of zero days so far with no precipitation
Why did we choose this shoe? It was for various reason for each of us, but we were all looking for a sturdy soled shoes that was NOT waterproof. We wanted non waterproof for a very simple reason. When it is really raining, every shoe eventually gets wet whether waterproof (think Gore-Tex) or not waterproof. Once a waterproof shoe gets wet, it can take 1-2 days to dry out. A non-waterproof trail type running shoe will dry in a few hours or certainly overnight. So far we have had some to a lot of precipitation every day and our shoes have gotten wet and even completely soaked. One night we washed and scrubbed our very wet and mud covered shoes in an outside sink. Within hours they were dry. We all love our La Sportiva Akyra’s. Thank you to our prior Camino friends who insisted on us using not water proof shoes. It has been a good decision with zero blisters thus far! We are the La Sportiva Trio!
This morning at 8:30 we left our hotel in the heart of Pamplona and walked 3 miles across the city before we entered the country try side trails. It was a glorious morning with our first sunshine filled skies as we climbed almost continually for 9 miles to reach the top of Sierra del Pedron (Mountain of Pardon) where we were greeted bu huge steel sculptures of Pilgrims from the past (see photos). The view was awesome with expansive valleys and distant snow capped peaks. We hear that Leon, 10-12 days away along our path just received over two feet of snow!
Leaving the mountain top was along a very steep and river rock filled course. We watched as a very young woman walked the entire steep downhill backwards as her legs were too sore to walk forwards. Eventually the path began to level off but was generally downhill for the last 6 miles. About a mile from our destination we had a heavy downpour that lasted 15 minutes and continued our streak of zero days so far with no precipitation
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