To Pyrenees or Not to Pyrenees

Leaving St Jean Pied de Port to cross the Pyrenees

The traditional starting point for El Camino Frances is St. Jean de Pied de Port (SJPP) which sits on the French side of the Pyrenees mountain range.  The traditional stopping point for the first day is Roncesvalles, at the top of the Pyrenee, and just over the border into Spain.  This means that the first day of the 500 mile walk is the hardest day of the entire trip.

4757 elevation gain.
15.6 miles

By any standards, this is a very tough day.  And it is especially tough as it comes at the very beginning, before you've had a chance to get strong from walking every day.  And while the view is spectacular if the weather is good, it is often cold, rainy, and foggy, which makes the trek up the mountain even more difficult.

So the question is--to Pyrenees or not to Pyrenees.  There is no rule that says I HAVE to start in SJPP.  I can take the bus to Roncesvalles and start at the top of the mountain instead of the bottom. I could start in Pamplona, which would mean walking 450 miles instead of 500 miles, which hardly seems like a big loss.  I'm still a peregrina if I walk 450 miles instead of 500.

But still...SJPP calls to me.  Part of it is that I would love to say that I walked over the Pyrenees the summer I turned 60.  It would feel like...what WOULD it feel like? a vindication?   victory?  proof of something?   Perhaps I feel like if I start somewhere else I'll be wimping out spiritually as well as physically right at the beginning. I don't know why it feels so important to me to start in SJPP, but it does.  Like the call to walk the El Camino, it feels like something I need to pay attention to.  
But even though starting at SJPP seems so important, I don't have to be stupid about it.  There is one small hostel about 1/3 up the mountain.  I can break my journey there, and still be able to say I walked over the Pyrenees into Spain.  I think I'll get my reservation in.