St Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles

We tried to obtain our pilgrim's passports at the office of tourism in St Jean Pied de Port, but unfortunately it is closed. We returned to albergue to spend the night there and are informed that it may be unwise to take the mountain route as we intended to. There has been heavy snowfall and 2 people got airlifted from the pyrrenees as they strayed of the route because of poor visibility and got themselves lost in a potentially dangerous situation. Snow hides many things and what appears to be a safe area to walk may lead to serious injuries and/or death. After being informed by the hospitalero to obtain our credentials at Roncesvalles and receiving our stamps to acknowledge the fact we started in St Jean Pied de Port, we retire for the night. The next day prior to setting of on our first day, we are informed the pyrrenees have been officially closed. We have to walk on the road and take the trail wherever we can. This will be the most difficult stage of our journey as it will be uphill all the way Today's walk will take about 8 hours and the temperature is bitter cold. We are wearing all of our clothing to keep as warm as possible. Our surroundings are breathtaking. Nothing beats snowcapped mountains. Mountains are very majestic in their own right but add snow and it becomes wonderous. When we finally reach the top, I am extremely tired and just continue to place 1 foot in front of the other. I don't really want to be walking anymore. We find a place to rest and have our lunch in a sheltered area but the wind is blowing straight through all of our clothes. We have an quick rest and meal and continue on but I am shivering and cannot stop this for the rest of the way. Luckily the rest of the way isn't long at all, approximately 15-30 minutes is all it takes to reach our destination, the monastery of Roncesvalles. We obtain our passports here and receive our first official stamp in this passport, we pay and are taken to our room where we will be spending the night. This time I am more than happy with the dormitory style accommadation. All of last nights pilgrims are here and some others who we have met along the way. We chat about the day and decide to all go and have our very first pilgrim's meal. We are a very multicultural group and we are all asked about our reason for this pilgrimage. After our meal we attend our first pilgrims' blessing but more about that later.