Follow Your Arrow

The hospitaleros who have been taking care of the Canfranc albergue before us – Alan and Liz – are seasoned and adventurous travelers. Last night they mentioned a nearby walk that they were keen to explore: the Chemin de la Mâture, which is just over the border in France. Seeing the photos of this path, cut into the Pyrenees overlooking a winding river and a castle, I said “I’m in; let’s go.” And so we did. At 8 AM this morning the one and only taxi driver in Canfranc, Miguel, picked us up in his rough and ready car and off we drove 30 minutes into France.

As we drove into the mountains with Miguel, the weather became more daunting – fog and rain and cold. We could see fresh snow in the mountains above. Nonetheless, we get out of the car, put on our rain gear unfolded our hiking poles and off we went. The effort was worth it. The views from the cliffs were spectacular. The sharp rock edges cutting the sky into pieces, with fog filling in the gaps. This path is part of a long distance trail that runs from the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean Sea, This segment was created in the late 1700s as a timber road to carry lumber to make masts for the French Navy, hence the name which literally means the “mast road.”

We turned around after an hour or so, giving in to the fog that we met as we climbed higher, and retraced our steps down the rocky path to Etsaut, where we caught a bus back to Canfranc.

We were back at the albergue in time to welcome in today’s pilgrims, 13 in total, plus Al and Liz. This is the most pilgrims that Al had seen since the beginning of May. The Camino season has begun.

We had an early dinner. And at 7:00 pm the tiny little church across the street from the Albergue hosted a choral concert. It was sweet and beautiful to be a part of this community event. And the voices were heavenly. What a great start to our time in Canfranc.