Friday, 10 May 2024 Vilavella to A Gudiña 14.2 kilometers Today we started in Lubián, the last town in Castille Y León. We will be in Galicia from today until ending our pilgrimage walk in Santiago de Compostela. Because of the very long, tiring, and frustrating day yesterday, we decided to forego the long uphill climb after leaving Lubián, instead, taking a taxi to Vilavella. Starting there, the day’s walk will be about 14.2 kilometers […]
Thursday, 9 May 2024 Puebla De Sanabria to Lubián 35.7 kilometers Today’s walk was long and the first 2/3 or 20 kilometers were uphill to the highest point on the Camino Sanabrés. Added to that, we got lost a couple of times on what we hoped would be an easier downhill walk. Getting lost was due to the apps having different routings. The different routings were precipitated by the high-speed rail lines having been under […]
Wednesday, 8 May 2024Asturianos to Puebla De Sanabria15.6 kilometers Today was an interesting day, full of ups and downs, both physically and emotionally. The day was really characterized by walking on natural (dirt or dirt/rocks) roads through a very wet forest at times. And the recent rains left some of the lower parts of the road ankle-deep or deeper in soft mud. When not negotiating the best way through the mud, the forest was beautiful, […]
Tuesday, 7 May 2024Villar de Farfón to Mombuey15.5 kilometers Today’s walk was characterized by natural paths all day, the first half in a semi-forest, and the second half across a lengthy, very wet, and sometimes muddy grassland. The skies were clear, and we could see snow on the mountains in the distance from recent unseasonable snowstorms much farther north. Last evening we were transferred from the end of the stage in Villar de Farfón to […]
Monday, 6 May 2024 Calzadilla de Tera to Villar de Farfón 11.3 kilometers Today’s stage walking on the Camino Sanabrés was characterized by warmer, clear weather under blue skies with occasional white fluffy clouds, and by a short stretch, almost bushwacking through a dense, almost jungle as we walked through the forest up to a hydroelectric dam over the Rio Tera. The route today is generally west, partly along the Rio Tera, over the dam, […]
Sunday 5 May 2024 Tábera to Santa Marta de Tera 20.4 kilometers Today’s walk was characterized by two things. First, it was cool today, but not quite as cold as the previous days. Today was heavily overcast, windy, and threatening rain most of the day. for the last couple of hours, there was an almost continual light rain. We are hoping the wind will blow the clouds away tonight. Second, for at least a couple […]
Saturday 4 May 2024 Granja de Moreruela to Tábara 26.5 Kilometers Today we started covering the route that I was unable to complete last year. The last two days we walked this year, I walked last year, from Zamora to Montemarta and from Montemarta to Granja de Moreruela. The overlap is because we chose to start at Zamora, primarily because there is direct train access from Madrid to Zamora. So now we are on the […]
Friday, 3 May 2024Walking from Montemarta to Granja de Moreruela23.3 kilometers Our second day of walking on this pilgrimage was a little more challenging than we all expected. The distance, at 23 kilometers, was not particularly far, and the temperature being fairly cool prevented overheating. Sometimes when the wind came, I was downright cold. A year ago at this time while I was walking this route, the temperatures were easily 10-12 degrees Fahrenheit higher than […]
Thursday, 2 May 2024Walking from Zamora to Montemarta19.7 kilometers We are starting the walk today after a day in Zamora to rest and acclimate after traveling from the U.S. The original plan for yesterday was to take items we do not need during the walk and send them to Ivar (who runs the Camino Forum) in Santiago de Compostela where, for a small fee, he will hold the package until we arrive. Unfortunately, May 1 […]
Sunday 28 April 2024 Travel to Madrid and Zamora After agonizing over planning and packing for what seemed like far too long, the time to actually start this journey to Spain had arrived. First a flight to Madrid, meet with my brother-in-law Ron and his friend Dan, then a train ride to Zamora where we will start the walk on Thursday the second of May. I walked about a kilometer (3/4 of a mile) to […]
21 April 2024Everything in one backpack A year ago I started a Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route known as the Via de la Plata & Camino Sanabres from Seville in the south of Spain to Santiago de Compostela in the northwest corner of Spain. I had to stop at Granja de Moreuela because of severe and painful tendonitis in my left leg. Here is a photo of me walking last year between Casar de Cáceres […]
14 April 2024 Planning a return to the Camino de Santiago I am returning to Spain for a pilgrimage walk on the Camino de Santiago in two weeks. A year ago I was walking a 1050-kilometer (650 miles) pilgrimage route known as the Via de la Plata which started in Seville in the south of Spain. I developed severe and painful tendonitis in my left leg and had to stop walking after about 660 kilometers […]
James the Intrepid Pilgrim 