James the Intrepid Pilgrim

May 2, 2016 Monday The Meseta starts: Hornillos to Castrojeriz    Walking Day #14 After getting a ride from the remote El Molina hotel to the town of Hornillos del Camino, I naturally started walking with the Brazilian couple. They were going at about the pace I wanted to walk, so it worked out well. Leaving Hornillos, we started a gradual climb. Many of these towns on the meseta are in river valleys, so to […]

May 1, 2016 Sunday From Burgos onto the Meseta and Hornillos del Camino     Walking Day #13 I was able to leave Burgos early on Sunday morning, at about 8 AM. It was cold, a thermometer reported 4 degrees, which is about 38 degrees fahrenheit. I am glad I got the wool hat, and I am glad I have gloves. Walking out of Burgos was very different than walking in to Burgos. While walking […]

April 30, 2016 Saturday A Rest Day in Burgos: The Cathedral I spent a rest day resting in Burgos. The focus was on visiting and taking in the Cathedral of Saint Mary of Burgos. This is a cathedral that is in short amazing; as with many things on this Camino pilgrimage, words fail me – the cathedral is just simply amazing in all elements – the history, the architecture, and the artistry. This was a […]

April 29, 2016 Friday A Long Walk to Burgos and a Rest Day    Walking Day #12 The walk today from San Juan de Ortega to Burgos is a generally flat 26 kilometers (16 miles) walk, with one very steep, fairly long (almost a kilometer), and very rocky uphill. As with the walk into San Juan de Ortega, the day’s walk started in the forest, and while it was a cold morning, it was beautiful and […]

April 28, 2016 Thursday An Uphill Walk to San Juan de Ortega    Walking Day #11 Today started out somewhat cold; we could see our breath in the air as we started walking through Belorado. The weather prediction was for rain or snow, and I was hoping we would at least get close to the end before it started raining. Walking through the small town of Belorado, I looked for way markers on the sidewalks, […]

April 27, 2017 Wednesday An easy 22 kilometers to Belorado    Walking Day #10 Today was an easier day from Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Belorado, only 14 miles. I laugh as i wrote that because in most other contexts, walking 14 miles would not be prefaced with “only.” But here on the Camino, it was an easier day, partly because of the distance, but mostly because of the relatively gently rolling terrain — no […]

April 26, 2016 Tuesday A Walk to Santo Domingo de la Calzada    Walking Day #9 Today’s walk was a little shorter than I had thought before I read over the guidebook. Yesterday was about 30 kilometers (20 miles), and today, the distance from Nájera to Santo Domingo de la Calzada is a mere 20 kilometers (13 miles). And there is to be only one major hill, and it does not look too terribly bad. […]

April 25, 2016 Monday The long walk from Logroño to Nájera    Walking Day #8 Today was a very long day of walking in terms of distance, 28 kilometers from Logrono to Nájera in the La Rioja area of northern Spain. This is the wine country, and the vineyards were around us all day. We started walking from Logroño, a busy city of over 150,000 population. We will be walking to a much smaller city […]

April 24, 2016 Sunday A long walk from Los Arcos to Logroño    Walking Day #7 At the end of today I shall have been on the Camino for one full week. Today was to be a little more of a flat day than some recent days, with one large hill and then rolling ups and downs over a few small river valleys. I started the day walking alone, hoping to catch up with Paul […]

April 23, 2016 Saturday Beautiful Post-Rain Walk from Estella to Los Arcos    Walking Day #6 After the rain, the air was clear, the sky was bright with some white puffy clouds against a deep blue background. It is a glorious day! Shortly after leaving Estella we came upon the fountain with wine and water. The Bodega Winery provides free wine to pilgrims on the Camino, or you can fill up with water. Because this […]

April 22, 2016 Friday Puenta la Riena to Estella and Rain    Walking Day #5 I met Philippe and Marie-Pierre for breakfast in the hotel. They have only two days of walking left for this year’s section of the Camino de Santiago. We soon started the walk to Estella, and it was once again, a beautiful day. There will be only a couple of hills, but not nearly as difficult as those we have traversed […]

April 21, 2016 Thursday Walking from Pamplona over Alta del Perdon and on to Puenta la Riena    Walking Day #4 After the rain yesterday, today was clear, bright, with a little crispness in the cool air. A beautiful morning. On the route for today is crossing over Alta del Perdon, where the sculpture of the pilgrims sits on the mountain in between the power-generating windmills (this is another place that was seen in the […]