Spectacular hike today. I bid farewell to fair Borce and made for the road. I thought today would be all road walking along the N134 but was wrong. There was still a lot of road kilometers, but the scenery was great and the chemin turned off for a 2 hour route through France's National Park of the Pyrenees.

That park was probably my most enjoyable time yet. The trees are changing colors and many small cascades crossed the trail. At times I was under the colorful forest canopy although it lacked the brillant reds of maple, and at other times I was on steep, exposed slopes with grand vistas.

I eventually exited the park, took the road for a short time, then did about 5 minutes of cross country to the border at Somport Pass, Col du Somport. After a few pictures there, I encountered the remains of the pilgrim hospital, Santa Christina, which was one of the 3 greatest pilgrim hospitals in medieval Europe. * I am in Spain! *

Canfranc International Estacion and the albergue of Pepito Grill was ony 6.5 km further. I stayed at the albergue and met Haidi, a Swede, and German couple. I shared a few drinks and a room with Haidi, a most interesting woman. She finished up with the GR11 and was headed to Andorra in the morning. The Germans were pilgrims too and were also headed to Jaca next, like me.