Day 4 – Much Needed R&R (Almost)

Col d’Berdaritz to the French Village of Les Aldudes (but spoiler alert, it sucked so we went back to the mountains at) the Col d’Lepeder

Distance Forward: 3.5km

Friday the 13th oooo!

I awoke to the gentle noise of rain drops on our tent, and booming thunder off in the distance. The rain came and went in waves, stopping for a moment, then dropping a whole ocean all at once.

The forecast did say thunderstorms, but they could have given us a little longer to pack up camp..

Anyways, it cleared up quick enough and the tent was almost fully blow-dried from the wind passing through the Col by the time we packed up.

We took a short road walk down to the village of Aldudes, which we thought would be a hiker haven! We were almost right.

Walking into town, we met our first fellow HRP thru-hiker! His name is Robert Broos, from the Netherlands. We were both glad to meet someone else who spoke English, and with whom we could relate to about all the hardships and quirks of the trail. It’s his first long distance trail, and he is doing it in 45 days before returning to his job at an outdoors supply store.

We said our goodbyes and thought we’d walk down to the place we read in our guide should have beds for hikers. When we got there, it said to inquire at the bar, back the way we had come. So we walked back to the bar, and after waiting quite a while, I nice woman came up and told us there were no spaces available at the bunk place, as it was sold out for a youth retreat.

Oh well, we thought. Plenty of options! We walked back to where we met Robert, and saw him off as he headed on towards the Col de Roncevaux. On the side of a large building there was written “Chambres” or rooms for the night, essentially. I thought I’d walk in and ask about it, and I was greeted at the front door by huge piles of junk on either side of a hallway leading up a staircase. I took a few steps up, and an old lady opened a door above. “Une chambre?” I inquired?

“No. Ferme. Ferme. Au revoir,” she said with an upset face as she closed the door.

Okay, no big deal! We decided to walk back to the bar and have lunch. Mmmm, fresh bread with potato omelettes and locally sourced Basque-country ham! A hiker’s delight.

Robin went off to check out the gas station for food, as I searched every website possible for a place to stay so she could rest up. She returned quickly, saying the market was on siesta until 3pm.

We spend the next 3 hours or so just trying to find a place to spend a night and get a shower. I walked back down the road and found a place called Gite d’France, which should surely have rooms available for travelers, right? Wrong! No chambres. At this point

I’ve just about given up and am ready to walk back to the mountains, where at least I don’t have to deal with all this nonsense running back and forth just to find an expensive place to lay my head for the night. So I walk back to the bar and sit at our perch at an outdoor table. “Nothing.”

Robin, who should have been in bed resting 4 hours ago, goes up to the bar to order a coffee, and some guy who is apparently a doctor says he would take her to a hotel 2km down the road. So I assumed we could both go, but he insisted only one of us could go, and not bring our stuff. Weird.

Then when Robin and I both agreed we didn’t want a one way trip to a hotel with a stranger, he left in a big hurry. The whole encounter just felt a bit shady, and left us feeling less than charmed by the village of Aldudes, all things considered.

We walked back down the road to the gas station grocery, grabbed a few supplies for the 108km journey ahead, and got the hell outta dodge. We found a beautiful campsite with a view, for free, at a Col just above the village, where we made dinner and watched the thunderstorms roll in.

The day ended as it began, with the sound of raindrops on the tent and booming thunder in the distance. What a strange day. Glad that’s over with. Reminds me of why I pick mountains over civilization, any day. Good night!