Woke up today to a clear blue, no cloud in the sky day. Yes!!

I have been remiss in reminding people who are following that I am raising money for charity with this hike also. In the past couple of days I’ve had someone new to this hike and someone who followed the AT adventure from day 1 ask how to pledge. My bad.

To pledge, go to at-pete.com and click on Pledge page. You can read about charities on Charity page. While there you should check out the Appalachian Trail page. I think it’s kind of funny!!  Now…back to the sunny day. 

Reminded me of a San Diego morning. Absolutely gorgeous. 

The Camino is already beginning to dry up. Another good day of sun and it will be perfect.

The morning was spent ascending out of Gernika and into the forest. It was my kind of weather for hiking and I was literally skipping up the Camino. 

I walked next to so many small farms and homes today. If I see someone I always wave, smile, and say hola. About 5 miles in I came across trail magic. A very pretty lady, about my age, was at the end of her driveway with a table full of goods. There was change there so I assumed she was taking donations. I had just 5 minutes earlier been thinking how good watermelon is on a day like today. Jackpot!  I tried to take her picture but she refused. We had a nice laugh (international language) and I was off. 

It is really easy to walk when you’ve just had a slice of watermelon, it’s a sunny day, and the Camino looks like this!

When I first saw the brownish tint near the tops of the trees below, I was assuming some sort of disease was infecting them. When I got close, I realized it was a forest of Eucalyptus!  It’s just a San Diego day here in Spain!

I had lunch in Lerrabetzu. It’s kind of the center of the Basque resistance (if that’s the right word). Saw lots of graffiti coming into town. Most about political prisoners. “If anyone deserves freedom it’s those who fought for it”. Wish I knew more about this. 

The end of the day was a long descent into Bilbao.