James the Intrepid Pilgrim

Monday, May 16, 2016 Down the mountain from O’Cebreiro to Triacastela    Walking Day #25 We are now in Galicia, a large autonomous community in the northwest corner of Spain. The city of Santiago de Compostela is the capital of Galicia. Santiago de Compostela is most known in the west as the location of the cathedral that is a shrine to Saint James the Great and the destination of the Way of Saint James (Camino de […]

Sunday, May 15, 2016 Climbing 30 kilometers to O’Cebreiro    Walking Day #24 Today was to be a difficult day, both a long day, and a long, long uphill of 8 kilometers at the end, finishing at a hill top village of O’Cebreiro (population 50). The first 22 kilometers were generally flat, and the path ran along  minor highway. From the map alone, the expectation was not too good because paths along highways are usually noisy […]

Saturday, May 14, 2016 A Nice Walk to Villafranca del Bierzo    Walking Day #23 After climbing up and over the mountains yesterday, today it was cloudy, but there was no rain in the forecast. We are now in a region of Spain called Bierzo, a valley surrounded by mountains (we will have to climb up and over mountains tomorrow to get out of the valley), and known for a particular type of wine. We left […]

May 13, 2016 Friday A muddy and long walk over the mountain to Ponferrada    Walking Day #22 This was a long, long day of 34 kilometers (22 miles) over a mountain top that is the highest point on the Camino, where Cruz de Ferro is located. The long, long climb up the mountain was very slow, because the pathway had become a creek, and a muddy creek at that. The downhill was just as bad, […]

May 12, 2016 Thursday Astorga to Rabanal del Camino, 22 kilometers in the rain    Walking Day #21 Today it rained, and this is no longer the plain in Spain; we are out of the meseta, the plain in Spain. We left Astorga in the rain, and it rained almost all of the way into Rabanal del Camino. Thankfully, it was a relatively flat 22 kilometers today. I left the hotel in Astorga with new friends, […]

May 11, 2016 Wednesday Walking through Mud to Astorga    Walking Day #20 After the rain in Spain comes the mud in Spain. A natural occurrence, after rain comes mud. I left from the Molino Galachos B&B at the same time as Nancy and Beth from Prince Edward Island, Canada. We all walked together for the first six kilometers until we got to a split point. The path went along a high-speed railroad. Last night, we […]

Tuesday, May 10, 2016 León to Villavante with my Brazillian Friends    Walking Day #19 Tuesday I walked from León to Villavante. About 6.5 kilometers from León, the path splits, with one leg running along the highway N-120, and the other leg running 4 or 5 kilometers to the south, in more natural landscape (dirt paths instead of asphalt or concrete). At the split point, I had to make a decision about which way to go. To […]

December 9, 2016 Monday Walking Before the Rain to León    Walking Day #18 Today Eamann was over at my hotel for breakfast. We discussed the weather, and my concern was walking a second day in the rain with no poncho, no gloves, and my health possibly being still in a recovery mode after a recent night in the hospital. The detailed weather forecast showed rain not likely until mid-afternoon, and given that the walk today […]

May 8, 2016 Sunday The Rain in Spain falls…on the plain.    Walking Day #17 Today it rained on the plain in Spain. It was cold and wet. The rain was hard enough that I kept my camera safe and dry deep in my backpack, so there are no pictures of the walk today. It was green and beautiful, thankfully short at 20 kilometers (13 miles), and very flat. The scenery on the meseta was much […]

May 7, 2016 Saturday A Slower Walk across the Meseta to El Burgo Ranero    Walking Day #16 My goal today was to keep it to a slow pace, this being my first day back walking on the Camino after my fairly short, but dramatic illness. After a breakfast of tea (not coffee-con-leche), toast and jam, and yogurt (following doctor’s orders…no milk except yogurt, and no zumo narranjo for a few days), I set out for […]

May 5 and 6, 2016 Thursday and Friday Health drama on the Camino My short-lived, and not really that serious health drama is over. I did spend time in the hospital, but I am well, and I appreciate all the well-wishes from everywhere and everyone from which they have come. Many people really came through for me here in Spain, especially the Spanish people. We hear that it is their culture to support the pilgrims […]

May 3, 2016 Tuesday The Meseta on the way to Fromista    Walking Day #15 Another day on the meseta. From the elevation diagram, it seems we are in for a fairly major hill climb just outside of Castrojeriz about 3 kilometers. Again, walking over relatively flat farmland and over a small river, the hill emerged in our view ahead of us. As we got closer, it looked too long and steep to possibly the Camino […]