Deba to Markina Xemein

For the record, today was 15 miles bringing us to a total of 61 miles over all. Yes, I had an incorrect total yesterday when I said we had completed 56 miles. Oh well.

Today we traveled inland from the coast. It seems that a few years back, a resident of Deba decided he did not like pilgrims. As a result, he woke up early one morning with a can of yellow paint and hand-painted numerous incorrect directional arrows throughout the hills in the area. The result was many confused and lost pilgrims. Eventually, those lost programs were located and sent about on the correct path.

Ultimately, this Wayward gentlemen was caught and the sign postings were corrected. Now, just about every half-mile, we have these elegant signs like this.20160831_083934 No getting lost here!

The vegetation around here is substantially forest and meadow.

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A couple of features about today’s walk were the lack of civilization for miles and miles. You were warned ahead of time to bring food and plenty of water. That proved to be the case, as Diane  and I found a nice open spot and made our own lunch in a wonderfully quiet meadow.

The other feature about today’s walk was the climbing. A little over 3,000 feet of climbing. And, just to make sure we knew we were in Spain, we entered the town of Markina with an extraordinary steep and very straight descent into town. Oh, to be fair, we did count three whole switchbacks over 15 miles. Spain does in fact know about switchbacks!

Enough for now. Showers and laundry await.

1 thought on “Deba to Markina Xemein

  1. Hi Guys,

    Good to hear the hike is going well. Mom, how is your OFS holding up? LOL! Miss you guys. All is well here, same old, same old. Kassy’s wedding was amazing. Tyler did an excellent job in Bill’s absence!

    Love you both.

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