Holy Smokes, I Made It!

I actually made it into Roncesvalles!! There were so many times when I simply wasn´t sure how much farther I would be able to go. And to be perfectly honest, I was on the verge of tears for the entire final 3.6 km. That was the point when I finally made it OVER the Pyrinees, and could see the town in the distance. I was certain at that point in time that I was nearly there, only 1 km left, 2 max. Nope - 3.6, and I would argue that they were perhaps the hardest in the journey today. They were downhill. Unlike any downhill adventure I´ve experienced to date, SO steep. My legs were shaking, my feet were aching, and my knees started hurting. My poles saved my life 3 distict times, keeping me from tumbling down the mountainside. And unfortunately, there are two bigger drops tomorrow. I´m hoping that they´re longer, yes, but perhaps not as steep. Time will tell.
The views were unbelievable. A helicopter passed BELOW, there were wild horses passing by 3 feet away. There were also dozens of gigantic birds, that at first I thought were huge bald eagles. Remembered hearing that they´re a type of buzzard that can have a wingspan up to 18 ft. I was joking to myself that they were circling in wait of me, that they knew I was passing through and it was only a matter of time before I dropped.
I´ve passed through a couple episodes of despair today, when all I could see were mountains and it seemed the climbing would never end. But I came to realize that sometimes all it takes to lift you out is a short pause to look at the peaks and valleys, the magnificent surroundings.
Oh - I want to correct one thing I posted earlier - there ARE craggy, rocky parts to these mountains (like any other, I suppose). I simply wasn´t high enough to see them before. I climbed 1450 meters (nearly a mile) up. UP.
I saw a mountain-sized slug today. He was black, and his back parts were wavy, and he was the size of a chipmunk. Seriously. I took a picture.
I spent a lot of my time thinking about what I would post here, or write in my journal, in order to not think about pain. I thought about all of you, and what you might be doing, and how it would have been great to have any of you here to have someone to talk to. I like doing this on my own for many reasons - I don´t have to worry about holding anyone back with my frequent few second-stops, I get to really notice the small things I pass along the way - but I´m sure the time would have gone much faster had someone been keeping my attention by blabbering away. I came across many very friendly people, but most of them didn´t speak English at all. The ones that did were already in a group, and moved at a different pace.
Time´s almost up, and it´s also almost time for the pilgrim dinner. I think I overheard we´re having fish, but whatever. I´m in Spain, for goodness sake! :)