Camino Frances Pilgrimage walk September-October 2017
04 October 2017 Walking Day 21: 23 Kilometers 30,737 steps Yesterday I took a rest day in León. I even rested from my blog. While a rest day from walking on the Camino de Santiago, it was not a complete rest day. León is a historically rich and significant city, and while its population is only 140,000, its stature is that of a much larger city. There is history, culture, and museums all around – the […]
02 October 2017 Walking Day 20: 18.5 Kilometers 24,920 steps We are having no complaints about the weather since I started walking in the autumn on the Camino de Santiago. Today was another very nice day, and a bit of a short walk at that, only 18.5 kilometers from Mansilla de las Mulas to León. For me this means a rest day tomorrow, and I am looking forward to not setting my alarm for tomorrow morning. […]
01 October 2017 Walking Day 19: 19 kilometers 24,177 steps Today was another mostly overcast day, protecting us from the sun, as we made the relatively short walk on the meseta of about 19 kilometers (12 miles) from the very small town of El Burgo Ranero to an older, larger town of Mansilla de las Mulas. In this case, “larger” means population 2400 compared to El Burgo Ranero’s population 800. Mansilla de las Mulas is […]
30 September 2017 Walking Day 18: 20 kilometers 27,275 steps The weather today was almost perfect for walking – very slightly cooler than yesterday, and expected to be cloudy almost all day. Sahagún is the halfway point on the Camino Frances. I met Jeff and Tracy from Minnesota at their hotel after breakfast. I told them that I had learned of an old church, now a museum close to where the Camino route from Madrid […]
29 September 2017 Walking Day 17: 22 kilometers 31,055 steps I am keeping count of my steps from where I start each day to where I am staying that night using a FitBit. A am not counting the steps I take walking around exploring the towns and socializing after I arrive at my destination. Yesterday, I passed 500,000 steps, one day shy of the half way point on the Camino Frances. Kurt Koontz wrote a […]
28 September 2017 Walking Day 16: 18.2 kilometers 23,620 steps Today, Thursday, was a light day in that we did not have a great distance to walk. And the walk was almost entirely flat. I started out walking with Jeff and Tracy from Minnesota. First, we left Carrión de los Condes on the main road out of town. Here are two friends from British Columbia (different cities, neither from Vancouver) at the “end-of-Carrión” sign as […]
27 September 2017 Walking Day 15: 20.5 kilometers 27,277 steps Today is Wednesday (I am pretty sure, that is), and it was another very beautiful sunny day on the meseta and the Camino de Santigo. I left Frómista with Tom and Julie (from Australia) at just about 8:00 AM. It was a brisk (10 C, 50 F) morning, but no wind, and the sun was just rising in back of us as we headed westward […]
26 September 2017 Walking Day 14: 25 kilometers 35,705 Steps Today was another warm day on the meseta in Spain. We left Castrojeriz early, and just about 2 kilometers from the town we had to climb up a 12% grade hill over a kilometer in length. Here we can see the path going up the hill in the distance. The sign in the picture on the lower right warns of the 12% grade, and the […]
25 September 2017 Walking Day 13: 20.5 kilometers 28,356 steps Wow! Another good day of walking on the Camino de Santiago on the meseta in my new shoes. My feet feel better than they have in a number of days. When my feet were at their worst, hurting with every step, my mood had become somewhat dark, and I was thinking that I may have to give up this pilgrimage and return home to let […]
24 September 2017 Walking Day 12: 21.0 kilometers 29,375 steps After what became a rest day for my feet yesterday, I am thankful that our first day onto the meseta (the plains) was to be fairly short, 21 kilometers (13.5 miles). I am walking on my new North Face hiking shoes. So far they are far more comfortable than walking in my Keen H2 sandals. The significance of today’s stage is entering the meseta, where […]
Non-Walking Day: 26 Kilometers 0 steps In yesterday’s comments, I expressed concern about my feet. I am very concerned about my feet – they hurt when I walk. I spent more time than is recommended breaking in my hiking boots. Walking up hills, down hills, on the flat, everything. I had no problems with my feet throughout the breakin period. On the first day of the Camino from Saint Jean Pied de Port over the […]
Walking day 11: 24.5 kilometers 33,150 steps After a day of mostly walking near or by the N-120 major highway, today was a welcome break from that highway. The first half of the day was close to the N-120, but across fields and out of earshot of the actual highway. The second half was in a forest, an while the N-120 is close, we could not hear or see it at all. Then we arrived […]
James the Intrepid Pilgrim 