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Etapa 1:  Irún to Donostia-San Sebastián
Distance: 22.2 km
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Weather: 65F, sunny, breezy, cloudless
Total photos taken: 147 (33 selected for this map)
Notable sights: Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadelupe; Monte Jaizkibel; Puerto de Pasajes; Donostia-San Sebastián.

Etapa description continued after the break.  Follow the flecha . . .

Unsurprisingly, I did not sleep well the night before the first of 33 days walking the Camino del Norte.  My Gore-Tex jacket had doubled as a blanket because the Irún albergue did not provide any and my last packing decision was to leave my sleeping bag across the Atlantic.  That decision paid off, however, as this was only one of a handful of albergues where I had to utilize my jacket in this fashion.   Despite this, I never did sleep well on the Camino:  sore bones, thin mattresses, and unforgiving snorers gave little mercy.

I packed my bag to a soundtrack of choral music and sat down in the communal area for breakfast.  The bearded, elderly hospilatero served coffee as I reviewed the day’s itinerary.  I bid farewell to the Madrileño I met the day before and stepped onto the empty streets of Irún at 7:40 am.  It was a cool, foggy morning but the sun soon would lift the moisture away.

The first leg of the morning was roughly 5 kilometers to the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.  I had walked the route out of Irún the day before when I visited Fuenterrabía with a Madrileño who was cycling the Northern Way so little time was wasted.  After turning off from the main Irún-Fuenterrabía road, I passed through a nature preserve before entering a forest track to reach the hill where the Santuario sat above the Bidasoa River, which separates French and Spanish Basque Country.

The Camino presents a choice shortly after the Santuario:  take the easier yet less aesthetic forest track that hugs the slopes of Monte Jaizkibel or take a short but steep footpath up the hill to follow the trail along the ridge of Jaizkibel.  There is plenty of pine but no coast where I live so the choice was easy.  The morning sun had broken away the earlier overcast, affording expansive views of the French-Spanish frontier.

The 8-km ridge trail was populated with weekenders enjoying the weather and long Easter weekend.  A beagle and her two kids ran large circles around their masters.  The footpath is subtle, a sign that locals come here not to hike with a purpose but leisurely stroll the ridge that stradles the Bay of Biscay and Bidasoa Valley.  The path rises gently past rocky outcrops and wildflower meadows until it eventually reaches the summitt of Monte Jaizkibel.

The descent from Jaizkibel passes a large antenna complex before emerging onto the GI-3440 road (road name may be different).  I cannot remember what the approach to Puerto de Pasajes is like but this road is followed.  The puerto is comprised of three communities and you can take a small ferry across the channel from Pasaia Donibane to Pasaia San Pedro for under €1.

After grabbing a Coca-Cola, I made my way up to the cemetery of Pasaia San Pedro.  Three youths were loitering near the cemetery, offering me a chance to practice my Spanish.  They directed me to the shortcut that I was inquiring about even though it was marked with flechas.  This path goes behind the cemetery and ascends sharply,  levels out as it wraps around the headland, and eventually is joined by the main route as it passes a lighthouse.  The Camino continues to hug the coast with the sea on your right before you reach another choice:  a ruined aqueduct can be used to bridge a small ravine or the pilgrim can continue on the safer footpath.  The Camino bends around another headland before rising gently with wonderful vistas of Donostia-San Sebastián on your right.

The Camino joins a steep staircase that leads down in the Sagues district of Donostia-San Sebastián.  From here, it is easy to find a main street that will lead you into the Old Town or you can find a stop to catch the bus to the youth hostel on the other end of town.