Day 10 (del Norte): Olatz to Markina

The second leg of a split stage is a lot easier in terms of logistics. We just call a taxi to drive us to the spot where we stopped in Olatz. And in this case, the taxi arrangement had already been made and the cheerful Basque man from yesterday comes to pick us up at the hotel on time. The forecast says it will be a sunny day but it is overcast when we leave. You just don't know what the mountain will bring, so I reluctantly pack the poncho, with which I seem to have a daily struggle of some kind or maybe it is a love-hate relationship. At least it's not too heavy.

The rain-and-mud-battered pair (left) dried quicker than anticipated overnight (after the wife's paper towel packing) and almost look new. The inside felt never wet, thanks to the waterproof design of my favorite brand Keen (no, I don't own any stock). Glad I can wear the old pair again on what is likely still a wet trail and spare the new pair I brought (right). 

Olatz: the taxi drops us off where we finished yesterday. The church with the scallop shell symbol (left) and the bar (right) where the owner lad let us use their outside table even though it was closed.

The actual walk is going to be twice as long as yesterday. There is a steady 200 m uphill climb initially. After that, the route goes up and down multiple times. We see a sizeable number of peregrinos as they pass us - we had a head start and they are walking from Deba. Sunjin took my advice and sent her bag with ours, so all three of us are doing pretty well maintaining a slow steady pace. During the final long steep downhill before we reach the edge of Markina, we almost miss a sharp right turn,  the wife slips but escapes with only scrapes, and a German who had walked briskly by us slows down to a snail's pace because of his knee pain sending his Peruvian companion ahead.

Near the end of the relentless uphill. There seems to be a bi-modal distribution in age just like on Camino Frances - young people and the near- or post-retirement set.

Although it's not raining, this is a stretch with killer mud.

There are some fine views on today's walk as well.

A number of animals are seen in a short segment, dead and alive.

See above.

See above.

See above.

Nice job here

We are trying to do our share, inspired by the above.

Christmas in September?

A peregrino engrossed in something - not a bad place to do that.

Cracking walnuts we harvested on the way

More kiwi fruit

As we get out of the interesting church we stumbled into, we see the last part of the Korean school group. They have been walking very slowly because a boy has injured his foot. Another victim of the steep rocky descent. It is a ghastly sight with the skin split open near the heel. He walked down on a pair of slippers, since his boots were wet! The teacher tried to talk him out of it but ultimately decided to respect his free will and demand responsibility for his action. And this happened. I bandage him up with the kit that the wife always carries, the mobile first aid station that she is.

Markina-Xemein: the hexagonal Shrine of San Miguel de Arretxinaga

Just outside the above shrine, I give first aid to a boy who sustained a gash in his foot during a steep descent in a rocky trail.  He can hardly walk and will need to go to the clinic immediately. His school group may decide to stay an extra day in town.

Markina: peeking into an albergue run by Church of Padres Carmelitas on a donativo basis

Markina: a late Menu de Peregrino lunch. This is just the first course - "mixed pasta," salada mixta of course, and in the back, a tuna and potato stew, another Basque specialty (marmitako). Now we are definitely getting into the peregrino routine and three-Michelin-star restaurants are somewhat of a distant memory, for now...

It is quite surprising that a city of 5,000 people have no hotels in the center. This is even a worse situation than Deba. We take a taxi to our hotel which is only a mile away, but I am determined to save every bit of energy when we are off the Camino.

Markina: out hotel outside the town center is a solidly built family house with the feel of a mountain lodge.