Pyrenees

Ribbons of water and rock

Ribbons of water and rock

We crossed the Arga on the way out of Puente la Reina. It would be the last time.

I pulled down my sunglasses and hung over the stone rail. My glasses dangled from a string around my neck. The flow below, like us, had run off the Pyrénées. Unlike us, its journey would end in the Mediterranean.

Forgiveness ridge

We reached the summit of Alto del Perdón. It was a good moment to remember God's grace.

Pompey-city

More than a decade before the hobnailed boots of Pompey the Great scraped the pavers of the Jerusalem Temple,* the Roman commander was out West. On the Iberian Peninsula, he pursued a campaign against the guerrillas of Quintus Sertorius. This pursuit kept Pompey busy for five years, from 76 to 71 BC. In that half-decade, Pompey developed his military chops, demonstrated a reputation for brutality, and earned a Roman triumph. The experience would serve him well.

Transitions

Transitions

Bob and I pulled on our packs and stepped to the asphalt below. We were too giddy to realize the scope of the trade. By means of that step we exchanged a futuristic mode of transport for the most primal form of all: our own feet.