Camino 2013 - Day 3: Borce To Canfranc Estación, Spain

I woke up with my mind made up.  I would join G_v on the bus.  I wasn't very fond of the traffic I'd walked along the day before and the idea of busier Monday morning traffic, traffic with lots of trucks, was not my idea of good hiking conditions.

Cross at dawn.

The day turned out to be a gorgeous and sunny.  I can't remember when the bus was scheduled for but I think it was sometime between 8:00AM and 9:00AM.  We walked to the next town, Etsaut, which was literally on the other side of the highway from Borce.  It took a couple tries to figure out where the bus was supposed to stop but we finally asked a utility guy who directed us to the town square.

Morning sun on the Pyrenees mountains.

We waited around for what seemed like a long time but was probably only twenty minutes or so and the bus didn't come.  The utility guy, who had stopped in a cafe for his morning coffee, saw us waiting and offered to give us a ride.  G_v and I, along with a few of the Germans who were not feeling well, piled into the guy's van and off we went.  We wanted him to drop us off in Urdos 5km (3.1 miles) ahead but he said the trail was damaged passed Urdos as well and he knew where we could be safely dropped off.  I have to admit that I felt a bit irritated when we passed Urdos.  I couldn't shake the feeling that we were cheating.  I've since rationalized it by saying that the Camino was not safe here and none of the important parts, the Aragones and French ways, would be skipped (We were still on the Arles Way and I never said I would walk the entire Arles way).

View from the trail.

He dropped us off about 5 km past Urdos.  As he dropped us off he said his name was Christoff and that he was named after the patron saint of travellers, Saint Christopher.  We all smiled at this.  He also dropped us off by J-M who had stayed in Urdos the night before and had walked the bad parts.  The bus, running a bit late, pulled up a minute later and dropped off more pilgrims.

The wild dirt trail up the mountain to Somport.

From this point the trail climbed steadily up along a very nice dirt trail. With the sun out and the blue skies the view of the Pyrenees were incredible.  Autumn flowers poked up here and there.  At one point I thought that blossoms had fallen from some flowering tree but then I realized the flowers were poking out of the ground and had very short stems.  These turned out to be autumn crocuses (Thank you G_v for identifying them).  The trail passed through forest and lush green fields with cattle and sheep.  You could hear the cow and sheep bells from quite a distance.  I felt pretty good as I climbed the mountain trail.  G_v was slower but she kept a steady pace behind me.

Colchicum, also known as autumn crocus, covered in morning dew.

This part of the trail climbs up to the Col du Somport where you officially cross into Spain.  The elevation you climb from Oloron-Ste Marie to Col du Somport (1,420 m, 4,659 ft) is higher than the mountains you climb between St Jean Pied de Port and Roncesvalles (1,304 m, 4,278 ft) but you climb it over three days instead of just one.  Most of that elevation climb (880 m, 2,887 ft) is on the third day.

At the Col du Somport we stopped at an albergue to buy lunch (un bocadillo de tortilla francesa con jamon, i.e. a scrambled egg and ham sandwich).  J-M and another french man we'd met before were there as well.  I bought a shell for my pack, the first magnet of the Camino ... and an ice cream.  Col du Somport is also the official start of the Camino Aragones.

About the shell.  I was not sure where I would get my shell.  I'd hope to get one in Oloron-Ste Marie but that didn't happen.  As a backup I'd brought a small shell that I'd picked up in Fisterra on my last Camino.  The Matron of Honor, who works for a jewelry designer, had added a ring to the shell allowing me to wear it as a necklace.  I attached it to a yellow cord that had been blessed by a monk in Bhutan.  Now I had both the necklace which I wore and the regular pilgrim's shell that was hanging from my pack.

The rest of the day was downhill mostly.  The rain from the days before resulted in a lot of runoff along the trail.  The Camino followed both dirt trails and roads along this section and was very well marked - The Camino is better marked on the Spanish side of the border.  As we neared our goal we were escorted by a cloud of butterflies - it was quite lovely - so much better than the day before.

The train station in Canfranc Estación.

Our goal was Canfranc Estación and we found a nice albergue near the beginning of town.  After doing our chores we headed out to walk around the town.  The highlight of the town is the old train station (estación is Spanish for station).  The building is gorgeous.  When we passed by it a tour had just started.  Everyone was wearing hairnets and hard hats.  I planned to go to a later tour.  The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around the long, thin town before returning to the albergue.  We rested there and enjoyed the sun in the albergue's lawn.

I left the albergue at 6:00PM for the station.  I was sure the last tour was at 6:30PM.  I was wrong.  It was at 6:00PM.  I ended up missing it by ten minutes.  This really sucked.  I'd misread the tour sign. I would have to be satisfied with pictures of the outside ... through the fence.  *sigh*

We ate dinner at a bar at the other end of the town.  I had the first of many hamburgers.  I don't remember them being on the menus last time I was in Spain ... at least not until after Santiago de Compostela.  Either they were new or I'd been blind to them.  I think I was just blind to them last time.

It had been a good day despite missing the tour.  It might have been the fact that it was a very short walking day.  The sun also made things so much better.  Some day I will take the Wife to Canfranc Estación and we will tour the station together.

Pictures can be found in my 2013 Camino de Santiago Google Photos album.

Total Distance on Day 3: 14 km (8.70 Miles)* Total Distance Walked:  58 km (36.04 Miles)

Approximate Track of the day's hike.

[Click on map for a larger version]

* Note: This distance does not include the van ride we took out of Borce.  It includes only what was walked.

Camino 2013 - Day 2: Sarrance To Borce

We left the albergue just before 8:00AM.  There was plenty of light to walk by but the sun was hidden behind thick clouds.  It was drizzly, spitty, and generally misty this morning.

After Sarrance the Camino follows dirt tracks similar to the ones we followed the day before.  With all the rain we had over night we made the decision to skip the dirt mud trails and follow the road instead.  The decision was made on sound reasoning.  The narrow trails have had some landslide and erosion issues and would be hazardous wet - doubly so if it were raining ... which it was.

The low clouds over the highway we followed out of Borce.

Things went well between Serrance and Bedous, the first sizable town on today's leg.  The clouds and drizzle didn't help much with the vistas but the clouds did add some interest and I saw my first sample of fall colors in the pyrenees.  I was hoping for more fall color but northern Spain (and western France) are not New England and would have to be satisfied with a small number of tiny splashes of color along the way.  I was surprised just how green everything was this time of year.  Even in October there was green and blooming flowers.

A little bit of fall color in the Pyrenees.

In Bedous we found a bakery open and bought some breakfast (chocolate napoleons and orange juice).  After leaving the bakery the drizzle turned into a more steady rain.  We stopped briefly at a covered bus stop to eat our breakfast.

After leaving Bedous we followed the highway as the drizzle became pouring rain.  We stopped at a filling station briefly to confirm our path and waited a little to see if the rain would let up.  It didn't.  We walked on through the rain.  The traffic whizzed by.  I started wondering if our decision to walk the highway was any less hazardous than the muddy trail.  The highway was not really made to be walked along.  In some places the shoulder was very narrow and in others you walked along a vertical rock mountainside so you couldn't even jump out of the way if a car or truck got too close.  Fortunately it was Sunday and traffic was light.  You just had to trudge on and hope the drivers saw you as they rounded corners going way too fast.

One thing about the rain, it sure made things green.

I was a bit relieved when we got to our stopping point of the day, Borce.  The last two days of rain and overcast was taking its toll on me.  I was tired of being wet and, even though the rain had stopped by the time we reached the town, I was still soaked all the way through.  Even my underwear was wet ... yes, I was that wet.  My shoes are GoreTex.  The good thing about Gore Tex is that it makes the shoes waterproof.  The bad thing about Gore Tex is that the shoes hold water.  Once water gets in the shoes it doesn't drain out.  A pair of gaiters would have been helpful but I didn't have any.  My pants got soaked.  The water then soaked into the socks.  The socks, acting like wicks, sucked the water into my shoes.  My socks felt very squishy by the time I got to Borce.

We passed up the municipal albergue since it seemed a bit spartan and, instead, found a nice private albergue above the town bar/cafe.  A warm shower and some dry clothes later and I felt a bit human again.  The sun came out and the clothes we wore that day, along with the still wet clothes from the day before, went up on the clothes line.  It was nice to actually have dry clothes for the next day.

The albergue was prepared for the weather by having stacks of newspaper.  To dry out soggy shoes you wad up newspaper and stuff it in your shoes.  Let them set for a time and swap out the paper for dry paper.  By the next morning the shoes were dry enough to wear comfortably.

Finding open services in France was turning into a challenge.  Concerned that we would not find any open stores in Borce on a Sunday we'd bought cans of ravioli in Sarrance and had carried them all day.  Turned out the cafe/bar was actually a cafe/bar/store and they had plenty of food available.  We bought supplies for the next day and ate warmed up ravioli for dinner.  I ate my first ice cream here.

I was able to send my first email from the bar.  Internet along the Camino is one of the things that has changed since last time.  Just two years ago you found computers with internet access at nearly every albergue.  In the last two years most of those computers have either broken, unplugged, or have been removed and replaced with wifi access.  Not having a wifi enabled device meant that accessing the internet was harder. A cheap, small tablet/phone might be necessary on any future Caminos if you want to send email.

A nice American family was staying at the albergue.  The family was visiting their Grandfather who lived in France.  They were nice people and were interested in the Camino.  They were doing day hikes using Borce as a base.  The Germans from Sarrance showed up too.  Being better fed and rested, they were in better moods than the night before and were quite pleasant to talk to.  Proves you can't always judge people by first impressions.

The weather forecast for the next day sounded much better as the rain was moving out and we would be crossing over the mountains.  We had a decision to make about the next section of Camino.  Landslides had severely damaged a part of the trail and a short section of road where pilgrims were detoured to was not very hiker friendly.  G_v had promised her mom that she would bus around this hazardous section.  I was still debating walking it as I fell asleep.

Despite having a waterproof camera, the dreary, rainy day deterred me from taking a lot of pictures.  The few I did take have been added to my 2013 Camino de Santiago Google Photos album (newer pictures are at the bottom).

Total Distance on Day 2: 22 km (13.67 Miles) Total Distance Walked:  44 km (27.34 Miles)

Approximate Track of the day's hike.

[Click on map for a larger version]

Camino 2013 - Day 1: Oloron-Ste Marie To Sarrance

We got up late the first day. At least it was late by my standards. Last Camino I routinely got up between 6:00AM and 6:30AM and was out the door twenty minutes later. This time around that was not possible. I do not like to walk in the dark. Many sad Camino stories start with "I left before dawn and I missed an arrow ...". The stories usually end with someone walking some ungodly distance in the wrong direction.  In early September, dawn (when there is enough light to see by, roughly a half hour before sunrise) was around 7:20AM so rising anytime before 7:00AM would be a waste of good sleep. Even by this standard we got out late - 8:30AM.

Oloron-Ste Marie in the drizzle along the Aspe river.

It was drizzling when we left the hostel. I wanted to stop at the tourism office to buy a French pilgrim's credential and a pilgrim's shell. The French credentials is bigger than the American one I'd brought with me. The tourism office didn't open until 9:00AM (the reason we left so late). To kill some time we stopped at a bakery and bought a croissant and orange juice for breakfast. I'm not much of a pastry guy but I have to admit that the genuine French stuff was pretty good. This was my first French croissant and it would be the first of many ... croissants and chocolate Napoleons mostly.

We found the tourism office but they did not sell credentials or shells despite being on the Arles Way. The Arles Way is the portion of the Camino in France between Arles and Somport. They directed us to a bar/cafe across from Saint Mary's church. The church was on the Camino and would be our official starting point.  There was even a distance market outside it.

The interior of the Saint Mary's Cathedral in Oloron-Ste Marie.

The bar had credentials but they did not have a stamp or shells. The church also did not have a stamp or at least there wasn't anyone there who knew about it. We left Oloron without a stamp which for me was a little disappointing. It turns out there was a stamp at our hostel. We didn't think of going back there.

The Camino leaves the church and takes you to the nearest flight of stairs. The stairs take you up a hill that gave you a great view of Oloron. We passed another smaller church before following a road out of town.

Oloron-Ste Marie seen from the top of the stairs.

The Camino takes you south through the French countryside. The Camino doesn't turn west until you leave Jaca, Spain, several days away.  As we left town we passed groups of hunters and their excited dogs - they were ready to chase down wild boar. The trail left the road and headed up a dirt trail. A lot of the Camino in France is dirt path and feels more wild than most places along the Camino Frances in Spain. The path is marked with shell markers or, more commonly, the red and white GR marker.  The GR - Grande Randonnée - are long distance walking trails in parts of Europe.

A couple of GR markers in Oloron-Ste Marie.

We stopped in the first village and ordered some sandwiches to go. Turns out we were lucky as the bar closed shortly after we left so that the owner could attend a culinary festival in Oloron. Other pilgrims would not be so lucky and would go hungry.

The more wild trails of the French Arles Way.

The views along the trail were beautiful and the villages and towns we passed had that old European charm. The only thing was the light rain and drizzle that came and went during the walk. One charming town had cutouts from fairy tales. Jean de la Fontaine was a noted fabulist/poet and the town of Escot remembers him with the colorful cutouts of his storybook characters.

The Tortoise and the Hare.

The last section before arriving in Sarrance is a very narrow dirt trail following a hillside along a river (sadly the dreary day and the shade from the trees prevented me from taking a good clear picture of the trail here). The drop from the trail to the river was a bit steep and made me a bit nervous. The fact the rain had made the trail a bit muddy and slippery didn't help.  Having hiking poles did help a lot here by helping me steady myself on the uneven and slippery surface of the trail.  While I was a little nervous along this stretch, these are the types of trails I like the most - a bit wild.

I was happy to reach Sarrance. I was tired and wet.  I wasn't really feeling jetlagged but the relatively short first day seemed very long to me.  We followed markers to the albergue - an active monastery. There are still three or four monks in residence.

The monastery where we spent the night in Sarrance.

We got beds and took a hot shower which felt very nice after being somewhat damp most of the day. This was followed by washing the clothes we wore that day. Last Camino I would go two or three days between washings. This time laundry was done nearly everyday. We hung the clothes in a furnace room where we hoped it would dry. It did not. It took a few days, and the sun coming out, for the clothes to finally dry.

We spent some of the afternoon wandering around the tiny village and buying food supplies for the next day in a small store attached to a hotel/restaurant.  I played ball with a dog - he brought his ball to a hole in the fence so I could throw it.  We also visited the church attached to the monastery.  Like last time, we visited lots of churches along the Camino.

The church attached to the monastery.

There were twelve pilgrims at the albergue.  This would be one of the largest groups we would encounter on the Arles/Aragones way.  This number would be dwarfed most days on the French Way.

The evening meal was a communal meal and was really good. I think I've never had a bad communal meal on the Camino. The group was a mix of different countries.  We met a very nice French man (J-M) who we would see along the way for the next two weeks.  Most of the pilgrims that night were German. One group, three women and a man, had done many Caminos and had written books about it. We would meet the man, N_B, later along the Camino. One of the women, the only one who spoke good English, came in giving off bad vibes. She was a bit ... unpleasant. The bad mood on arrival was probably due to hard rain they walked through (and we missed) and not being able to get anything to eat along the walk (the bar we ate at was closed when they came through). I wondered if we would be stuck walking with this unpleasant person.  Everyone else was pleasant to chat with, often with G_v translating for me.

I went to sleep to the sound of rain and a little thunder.  I slept well but I started my Camino sleeping pattern.  I would fall asleep fast but I would wake two or three times during the night - usually around 1:00AM and 4:00AM.  4:00AM was when I would wake up and pull on the blanket.  This pattern would repeat itself along the entire Camino.  It became a comforting habit on my adventure.

Pictures can be found in my 2013 Camino de Santiago Google Photos album.  More pictures will be added as I add more posts.

Total Distance on Day 1: 22 km (13.67 Miles)* Total Distance Walked:  22 km (13.67 Miles)

Approximate Track of the day's hike.¤
[Click on map for a larger version]

* Note: Since I didn't take my GPS and the camera GPS tracks are unreliable, I am using the distances listed on the awesome Caminoguide.net website unless otherwise noted.

¤ Note: The tracks were made using my Nikon AW100 camera's GPS.  In most cases I have had to edit the tracks to removed obvious tracking errors.  When the track is heavily edited, the elevation plots become unreliable and are not included.  The start of the day's hike is on the right and ends on the left - North to South.

Camino 2013 - Getting To The Beginning

Getting to the start on my last Camino was a rather stress filled affair.  This time was a bit more boring and full of tedium.

Mom picked me up and dropped me at the airport like she did last time.  I was carrying two bags: my pack and a small carry-on with my camera, documents, and other important things.  My poles and pocket knife were not on me.  I'd been wondering how to safely get them to France.  After the lost luggage incident I was a bit lot paranoid.  The solution was to ship the poles and other sharp TSA unfriendly items to Gv.  She combined them with her pointy things and checked them when she flew to Paris.  We figured, since her flight was direct with no connecting flights, the chance of them getting lost were minimal.  We were right in the sense that they got there without issues.  Of course if I'd just checked my own poles they probably would've gotten there.

Security went smoothly despite me being worried about the safety pins and laundry bars in my bag - I was sure they would be confiscated.  They weren't.  I worry too much.

My flights to Chicago and Madrid were on time and I had no problem fitting my pack in the overhead bins. My pack was actually a bit smaller than the one I had last time and appeared tiny next to some of the roll on carry-ons other people had.  I met a pilgrim from Minnesota in Chicago that was doing the last 100 km.  I recognized her from the Camino guide book sticking out of her pack.  We talked about the Camino until our Madrid flight started to board.

I arrived in Madrid shortly before eight in the morning.  This is when the boredom started.  The next part of my getting there was a flight from Madrid to Toulouse, France.  My flight left at 1:15PM so I had nearly six hours to kill.  I wandered around a bit trying to figure out which gate my plane would leave from.  Turns out they don't announce the gates until about two hours before the flight.  The only thing odd here was I had a small head wound when I got off the plane.  I guess I hit my head getting in the plane (I left a blood spot on the window).

I went through security and looked for a place to eat.  The only thing open was a cafeteria style place that was between the breakfast and lunch  periods.  I picked a ham sandwich (a staple of the Camino - I decided to start a little early), an apple, and something to drink.  I tried to pay with my credit card and it wouldn't read.  I paid with cash but now I was all paranoid.  Why didn't my card work?  After I ate my lunch I looked for another place I could test my credit card and found a vending machine that accepted credit.  Looking through the junk food, a pack of Principe cookies caught my eye.  I swiped my card ... it worked ... and I got a pack of cookies.  I felt some relief.  I then promptly worried about my ATM card and calmed that fear by withdrawing cash from a nearby ATM.

About the Principe cookies.  I did eat a few this Camino but I did it with moderation.  In the end I only ate four tubes of Principes.  I'm kind of proud of that.

They announced the boarding gate and I found a place nearby to sit.  I was flying EasyJet.  They don't have assigned seats.  It's kind of a first come first served kind of thing.  Fortunately for me I was like the fifth in line or so when they started boarding.  My bag got in the overhead bins.  Many other passengers ended up having to check their carry-ons.

In Toulouse I caught a bus that took you to the train station.  At the train station I ran around like a crazy loon trying to find a kiosk to print my e-ticket.  I think I wasted five or ten minutes trying to figure out what I was doing.  I printed out my ticket and then tried to find who I needed to talk to to exchange it for an earlier train.  I'd bought a ticket on a later train to give me time.  I figured I would change the ticket to an earlier train if I got to the station in time, which I did.

It took me a few minutes to realize that to change your ticket you had to take a number.  It took me a few more minutes to figure out how to take a number from the kiosk.  It then took about fifteen or twenty minutes before my number went up on the screen.  All these minutes turned out to be wasted - my ticket had no assigned seats therefore I could take any train at any time to my destination.  I should have guessed this when the kiosk wouldn't allow me to exchange the ticket.

I got on the train and sat back and watched the French countryside move by.  The train had a few stops including Lourdes.  You can walk the Camino starting from Lourdes if you want to.

I switched trains in Pau.  I started to realize that there was very little signage in English.  Frankly there was none at all.  I would have trouble traveling alone in France.  Fortunate for me I would be meeting Gv whose first language is French.

After Pau the rain started coming down.  Not the best sign.  It was raining when we arrived in Oloron-Ste Marie.  Gv was not there but I had directions to the hostel she had made reservations at.  I put on my pack, pack cover, rain jacket, and hat and headed out into the rain.  Less than a block later I ran into Gv.

She led me back to the hostel and I discovered a nice room with it's own bathroom.  I took a shower, put on fresh clothes, and caught up with Gv as I repacked my bag for the next day.

I was tired after nearly twenty-eight hours of planes, trains, and buses but I ended up having a restless sleep.  I think all the anticipation made it hard to clear my head.  Last Camino I'd had three nights to sleep before I started walking - this Camino I would have only one.  I hope it would be enough because I had over 600 miles of walking ahead of me and I was ready to get started.

Let the adventure begin.

P.S. I took only two pictures along the way to Oloron-Ste Marie and neither were interesting so no pictures this post.

Time To Trek ... Or Not

Earlier this year I participated in the Trek Up The Tower (TUTT).  That was my second time and I improved my time nicely.  Today is the start of sign ups for the 2014 TUTT.  I seriously considered doing it again but I have decided not to do it next year.

After returning from the Camino I wasn't sure how my legs would be.  After my first Camino I needed physical therapy to correct for a twisted pelvis.  The physical therapy obviously has worked as I feel great.  That is not the reason why I'm not doing TUTT next year.

The reason is a bit silly.   I'm not doing TUTT because I'm afraid I will not do as well as last time.  Despite feeling better than last time I also remember my Topa Topa hike after my last Camino.  I thought the Camino would have prepared me for the hike but in fact the hike turned out much harder.  I'm afraid that TUTT will feel harder because of lingering, and subtle, effects of me walking over 600 miles.

Having said this, barring any unforeseen injuries, I intend to climb the tower in 2015.  Over the next year I will be training for RAGBRAI and all the bike riding should build up my stair climbing muscles ... I hope.

Back From The Camino

I returned from my second Camino on Thursday evening.  I probably should have posted this a day sooner but I've been a tad slow since I've returned.  I imagine that is understandable as I've been separated from the real world for 50 days - it takes time to return to real world speed.

So how was the Camino you ask?  Things have changed a bit in the two years since my first Camino.  I will tell you all about it over the next month or so as I post about my latest adventure.  I will say that some things seem better, some things seem worse, but, in general, the Camino simply is different - neither good nor bad.

My shadow trekking along the Camino de Santiago.

The people along the Camino have changed the most I think.  I met a lot of people along the way but a Camino family, like the one that formed last time, never really took shape.  I have a few thoughts about why that is and I will share them in my future posts.  Let's just say that it was nice to have a familiar face in G_V to keep me company.

The weather didn't cooperate either.  Last time we had maybe three days of significant rain.  This time there was significantly more.  The rain took a mental toll on me on the meseta and to a lesser extent (but in a more physical way) on the walk to Fisterra.

No stages were skipped.  No buses (except one taken for a good reason) were taken this time. I can now say that I completed the entire Camino Frances on foot.  We took one rest day along the way (day 26).  In the end, the unofficial distance walked was around 616 miles (991 km).  A bit more than 102 miles (164 km) more than last time.  I didn't have a GPS this time but my camera did.  Having said this, the camera had days when it found it hard to track anything and I know many of the tracks are incomplete.  I hope to have maps in my posts like I did last time but it will probably be a bit more labor intensive than before.  We'll see how I feel after I work on the first few tracks.  It is safe to say that I won't be able to quote the stats like average speed and altitude changes like I did last time.  I felt kind of naked without my GPS.

Speaking of my camera, I took 1,711 pictures and a handful of videos which is a little more than last time. I've downloaded them to the computer but I haven't had a chance to take a good look at them yet.  The camera did pretty good.  I dropped it on old stone floors a few time with no apparent damage.  I took pictures in the rain.  It's ruggedness and waterproof-ness were appreciated.  My charger was not as rugged and died just a week before coming home.  Fortunately this really didn't hurt.  If it had died earlier I would have had issues.

So how am I you ask?  Last time I returned with aches and pains that required six months of physical therapy to correct.  This time I return relatively healthy.  No need for physical therapy.  While I had one big blister last time, I had several bad heel blisters this time.  Like the one last time, these new blisters didn't stop me from walking.  There were a couple days along the Camino where I struggled more than I would have liked but I think my body recovered each day faster this time than last - a possible result of all the training walks and exercises I've done over the past two years.  I learned a few lessons along the way that will certainly be applied during my Appalachian Trail preparation.

I'm hoping to start drafting posts this coming week and will try to start posting the week after that.  I'm not sure how this will turn out.  This Camino lacked the first time wonder it had last time but there were still quite a few new places and people to write about.  I have many opinions about how it has changed and how it may fair in the future.  I have thoughts on how I have changed as well.  I just need to take the time to get it all down before it fades too much.

Happy Birthday To The Wife!!!

This post is for the Wife.

Today is your birthday and I am walking the Camino in Spain.  Thank you for indulging my crazy need to hike.  Even though we are 4,300 miles apart, know that no matter how far I am and how long I am away, you are always in my thoughts, close to my heart, and I count the days until I am home with you again (eighteen as of today).

I love you.   I miss you.

Happy Birthday!

Another Seven Week Hiatus

Well, I'm on my way to the airport.  By tomorrow night, if all goes well, I will be in Oloron-Sainte-Marie, France.  As I have said many times before, I do not like drafting posts while traveling and this time will not be any different.  It is time to immerse myself into the Camino experience and let the outside world fade away.

I am taking a journal and my camera like I did last time.  I don't "write" in my journals really.  They're more like notes and reminders of what I did that day, what I experienced, where I was, where I'm going, and how I felt - a disjointed bulleted list usually.   Just enough, when combined with my photographs, to jog my memories when I start drafting posts back home.

I know a lot of you like to follow my travels and I presume you are a little disappointed that it won't be live.  This is no different than the last time.  It will have to do.  Last time there was a month delay in getting posts published since the Wife and I immediately left on our Route 66 roadtrip.  That shouldn't happen this time.  We have no trips planned until next Spring at the earliest.  A week should be sufficient for me to recuperate and to re-enter the real world.  Posts should start flowing soon after, I would imagine.

I will be sending emails to the Wife like I did last time.  She will share it with friends and family.

For those wondering what my final pack weighs, it's 16.75 lbs (7.6 kg) without water. This is about 2.2 lbs (1 kg) more than I wanted. I think the extra weight is all in my toiletries. I guess I'm a high maintenance guy.

One last thing.  I want to thank everyone who has sent emails and posted on social media with their well wishes.  They have all brought me comfort in a time of unsteady nerves.  Here is a haiku that was sent to me by the Wife's friend the Loon Whisperer:

I am a man master of my destiny  today I'll walk backwards - Loon Whisperer

Keep me in your thoughts.  You all will be in mine.

 ¡Buen Camino! 

Hear That Whining Noise? Those Are My Nerves

Two more days.  For the past three or four days I've felt my nerves wind up.  I am so nervous, excited, and anxious to go that I'm starting to get jittery.

In an attempt to distract myself, the Wife and I went to the Omaha Healing Arts Center, Omaha's home of Yoga, Tai Chi, And other eastern arts.  The center was hosting Tibetan monks from the Gaden Shartse monastery of southern India.

While in Omaha the monks were providing blessings to homes and businesses.  We were there to see the making of a sand mandala.  The pattern is intricate and very labor intensive.  The skill and patience is impressive to say the least.  Pictures of the monks making the mandala can be found here.

Careful placement of colored sand.

We walked around taking pictures.  They had different things related to their rituals - hats, horns (like the one we bought in Bhutan), and cloth mandalas - on display as the monks worked to recordings of chanting.  We ended up purchasing a CD and a bracelet from the monks.

Working on the mandala.

While observing the making of the Mandala and taking pictures distracted me for at least an hour, I have to say my nerves are right back to where they were and even getting worse.

A while back I remember writing saying that I wasn't as nervous as I'd been my first Camino.  I may have mentioned it a couple times.  This week ... I think I'm cramming six month's worth of worrying into six days and no number of mandalas will calm me down.  You know what it will take?  A flight to Europe and 600+ miles of walking.  That should do it.

Santiago Matamosca

Our dog Iago, his full name is Santiago, is really ... special.  Santiago is Spanish for Saint James.  Saint James has an important history in Spain.

Based on all the Camino stuff I've posted over the last few years you may know that there are a couple of incarnations of Santiago in Spain.  There is Santiago as pilgrim.  He is dressed in a simple robe, a hat, and carries a staff and a gourd of water.  He is a peaceful pilgrim and dresses as his followers dress.

The second incarnation of Santiago dates back to the reconquista, when the Spanish christians forced the moors off the Iberian peninsula.  During the battle of Clavijo on 23 May 844 the legends says that Saint James appeared riding a white horse and helped the Spanish forces defeat the moors.  From that point forward, Saint James became the patron saint of Spain and was called Santiago Matamoros.  This name translates into Saint James killer of the Moors.

So, which of these incarnations does Iago fit.  Is he the peaceful pilgrim dog?  Yes he is.  Iago is very submissive and peaceful most of the times.  But he also has displayed Saint James' other incarnation.  Iago has displayed a dogged prowess in hunting ... flies.  So now, Iago has a new name:

Santiago Matamosca ... Saint James Fly Killer