Camino De Santiago

The Camino de Santiago--Finally! One of my biggest bucket list items-and what I planned my entire trip around-was about to happen! The energy of the pilgrims in St. Jean was electric with excitement and I was no exception. I was so stoked to be doing this and to be back in the mountains that on September 25 it only took me 7.5 hours (including breaks) to hike the 27.1 km over the Pyrenees from St. Jean Pied de Port, France to Roncesville, Spain. 684 km (ok, I cheated a little), 1.3 million steps and 36 days later I arrived in Santiago de Compostela. A relatively easy walk, it was unexpectedly powerful at times. I'm sure it will be some time before the significance of the experience is fully revealed to me. However, I have learned that I prefer the sounds of church bells ringing and roosters crowing to the noise of cars, that I'd much rather walk outside and see the gazillion stars at night and watch the sunrise in the morning than have the convenience that city lights represent while blocking them out. In fact, cars have become an assault to my senses and really irritate me. I still love muscle and classic cars, and was in love with my own car but have since decided to aggressively pursue selling it. I hope I never again have to live somewhere that I need a car on a daily basis.

Everyone's Camino looks different and mine included a side trip to wonderful Bilbao for a couple days as well as a spectacular four-day road trip through parts of Spain and Portugal with a Spanish man whom I'd walked with for a couple days. There are two things about The Camino that are clearly evident to Pilgrims (real Pilgrims, not those people that just start 100 km before the end to get their certificate). First, love permeates every aspect of The Camino! It's in the air, on the rocks and in the exchanges of "Buen Camino". There is also a magic in the way it looks out for it's pilgrims, whether it is returning a lost item to it's owner or connecting people that are meant to meet. I've seen and experienced it first hand several times and it is fascinating how quickly strong bonds can form between strangers. I also love how one can have complete conversations with someone that doesn't speak the same language. Cooking together, sleeping in albergues that are monasteries, or run by singing nuns, falling asleep to 'snoring symphonies' (ok, that part I could do without) are lasting memories. Although it is an experience like no other, the overall feeling of connection-with each other, the earth and spirit-was reminiscent of my time in Patagonia. It is not something that I can verbalize. It is so unique and intimate that to try would somehow cheapen it. Walking between 21-31 km/day while eating figs, walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts picked from the trees, grapes from the vines and apples given to us by locals as we passed, became addicting. The terrain is fairly flat with a few mountain passes and very beautiful. Even the less lovely parts have a beauty of their own if you choose to see it. The weather was perfect almost the entire trip. Sometimes that looked like sunshine, sometimes it looked like clouds keeping us from getting too hot but the sun and wind were always at our backs. Only a few days had rain--a warm, soft rain that, to me, was a welcomed coolant. A couple times I didn't even bother with rain gear. The nights often bordered on cold but one was rarely out after 20:00 anyhow and curfew was 22:00. I loved the small villages, cow traffic and the fellow peregrinos I met that enriched my journey. There are infinite details everywhere you look: like the lyrics to John Lennon's Imagine that someone wrote, one verse at a time, on trash cans for several kilometers. Or the rock buried in the ground with the dirt surrounding it just-so so that it looks like a heart. Or the drawing on the rock in the ground. Or the little bird flying against the wind of equal strength causing him to appear stuck in mid-air, flapping his wings in vain. The Pilgrim blessings are very special evening moments and the entire Camino experience is a very welcoming one. It was the rare occasion that I felt like a tourist but disgruntled employees can be found everywhere. Overall, I am finding Spain to be a wonderful and beautiful country where a glass of wine is cheaper than a cup of tea.

Not ready to stop walking, the plan was to continue on another 89.8 km to Fisterra and 28 more to Muxia then bus back to Santiago to walk 11 days to OPorto, Portugal. Unfortunately, on the second day to Fisterra, I received word that my stepmother had made her transition. So with the aid of a taxi and another day of walking, I walked a total of 69.8 km to Fisterra, the place that was once upon a time thought of as the end of the world, when it was believed the world was flat. Fortunately the 10 kilograms of my stuff that I'd shipped from Pamplona had arrived and was waiting in an albergue for me, but the rest of my Camino trip was cancelled. I'm not sure how I am going to un-condition myself from walking for miles every day. I really am hooked on this lifestyle!

I shortened my post because I felt the photos tell a much better story than I ever could. I took over 1,100 pictures and managed to narrow it down to less than 250. I feel so much is missing but I hope you enjoy the slideshow anyway.

For those seriously considering walking The Caminio I have included a post on the sidebar with some details not covered (or stressed enough) in the books that I found helpful.