CaminoCruiser, you did not post when are you going; conditions may differ greatly according to the season.
If you mention that you are staying overnight in Valcarlos, the lady attending the Pilgrim Office at SJPP will kindly volunteer to make a phone reservation in a hostal. Do it if you like this option. Otherwise, stay in the very good albergue, which is open all year round and has heating. No reservation needed, except maybe in summer. If the city hall is closed, ask for the digicode in any shop or restaurant.--
After SJPP and the bifurcation there is a local road, with almost no traffic. Mostly rural country, with farms, flocks of sheep. Some wildly barking farm dogs –just go your way.
Be attentive in Arneguy. I found signposts quite clear, but it seems some people has got lost here. Take the local road going by the police station and then to Ondarolle village, between the fronton (Basque ball game), and the church.
The worst ascending, actually, is between Arneguy and Valcarlos. I am a good climber, but I had to stop a couple of times to catch my breadth. But the landscape is stunning.
Valcarlos is a picturesque Basque village, with some shops and restaurants. There is a 6 km high road section after that, little traffic, with a detour by the charming village of Gainekoleta. Then, the path goes through a forest with oak and beech trees, and many little springs. I did not find the ascending to Ibañeta particularly difficult.
It was one of the stages that I loved most of my Camino.