Random thoughts after arriving in Santiago de Compostela

We walked a full day into Santiago on Thursday. Just like any trip, the last little bit seems the longest. We entered the old city with a wonderful couple from South Africa who were on their first Camino. The conversation helped pass the last hour and the excitement was contagious.

Here are few thoughts on completion of our third Spain Camino:

● I am thankful to be able to share this experience with Ruth Ann. So thankful.
● All kinds of people snore.
● There is no such thing as "good rain gear".
● I wonder why my knee doesn't hurt while I'm on Camino.
● I wonder why so many churches are empty, yet the Santiago Cathedral is packed every day at noon.
● You might say a prayer for Beatrice, who is battling cancer. Her aunt sat beside us during the Friday evening service, after walking 500 miles in prayer. It was a special moment for the aunt, and we appreciated the chance to share in it.
● Sports is the only thing I can enjoy on Spanish TV, but that's also somewhat true of what I enjoy on Denver TV.
● The food in most Spanish restaurants continues to be uninspired.
● Both of us are craving good pizza.
● There are times when a person deserves a compostela even when they can't complete their Camino.
● It has been a good journey, I think we will remember both the joys and struggles with a smile.

On our way into Santiago we stopped by the "celebrating pilgrims"statue on Monte de Gozo

It is always great to see the botafumeiro swing.

This picture is from 2014 as I decided to just sit and take in the moment on Friday.

We were glad to have one more evening with James before he headed home.

We took a bus to the coast on Saturday and the bus stopped at the Rio Tambre where we were able to duplicate a picture from our walk in 2014.

Crowds of Pilgrims?

There's quite a lot of talk about the Camino becoming crowded, and the numbers have increased significantly over the last few years.  In 2006 almost exactly 100,000 people recieved compostelas.  That number had doubled by 2013, and it looks like more than 300,000 pilgrims will enter Santiago this year.

The easiest way to avoid the crowds is to walk a less travelled route to Santiago. If you've been following us, you know that we started this year's walk on the Via de la Plata, a Camino with only 3% of the total pilgrims each year. The pilgrim numbers are less on these types of routes, but so are the number of beds in the refuges. Even though we saw few folks during the walk each day in early April, there were still times when all beds were taken at the end of the day.

After nearly 100 days of walking in Spain, we've found a few things that minimize the 'crowded' feeling, even on the Camino Frances.  First is going in the spring or fall of the year. Many Europeans vacation in July and August, so an October or April walk avoids this surge.  Starting even earlier or later is possible, but you would need to be prepared for cooler weather. Also, some of the refuges don't open until late spring, and close for the season at the end of October.  In 2014 and 2015 the number of pilgrims in September increased dramatically, and this year we've already heard that the huge albergue in Roncesvalles was full on a nightly basis before May 1st.  We would not recommend starting in St. Jean Pied de Port after April 10th in the spring, or before October 1st in the fall (if you want to avoid the crowds).

Secondly, we try to stay in smaller towns which are NOT recommended by the guide books as typical stops. Last night we stayed at Albergue Camimo das Ocas, about 5 km after the major town of Arzua. The result of this was that, in the morning, just as the big crowds were leaving Arzua, we were about an hour ahead of them. We did not see another pilgrim until we took a break, about 2 hours into our walk.

And lastly, we take alternate routes when possible. Along many stages there are two or three optional routes. The best example of this was the start of the trip in 2014.  We took two days to walk to Roncesvalles, stopping in Valcarlos on the night between.  Valcarlos is in the valley, just to the north of the more popular mountain route.  We did not see another pilgrim for nearly two days, even though about 180 folks were in Roncesvalles the night we got there.

Of course, sharing the experience is one of the joys of the Camino, so our goal is never to avoid everyone.  When we want to do that, the Colorado wilderness has some trails where few humans ever pass.

Here are a few pictures from the last couples of days (Days 34 and 35, we hope to make Santiago on Thursday afternoon)

The smell of freshly cut grass was nice.

We've passed many other 'not-so-nice' agricultural odors along the way.

This highway excavation was here in 2012, it still looks like it did then!

Lumber is an active industry here, mostly from planted forests.

These are eucalyptus logs, a tree that was brought to Spain in the early 1900s.

We don't see as many wildflowers in this part of Spain, but the cllimate is perfect for many cultivated varieties, Ruth loves the

Calla Lilies.

Days 31, 32, and 33 To Mercadoiro, Eirexe, and Melide

Leaving Sarria is always busy, and we seemed to have picked the time of a perfect storm to make it worse than normal. We started the Sarria section on a Saturday, but not just any Saturday. It was the beginning of a 3 day holiday weekend in Spain. The number of people on the trail was truly shocking, as weekenders from all over Spain clogged the path.

But the last 100 km into Satiago is beautiful. Rich pasture lands and forests of both conifers and diciduous trees. And by leaving Mercandioro early and staying in Eirexe on Sunday night, we had several hours of solitude along the trail as the folks in Portomarin and Palas de Rei were ahead of us each morning. We've sort of formed a new Camino family with Jonathon, Finn, Laurel, Melissa, and a few others.

The weather continues to be perfect, frost beside the trail in the morning, and mostly sunny all day. In 2012 we had one day below freezing, in 2014 the lowest temperature was about 40F, but this year we've had several days with frost on the fields. The next couple of days are predicted to be much warmer.

We are starting to feel that the end of our walk is nearing. It's a different kind of anticipation than I wrote about in the March post.

Quote from RA's journal: Weariness is setting in, but cannot dampen the anticipation of arriving in Santiago de Compostela.

The Portomarin bridge was still hidden in fog as we crossed early Sunday morning.

We climbed above the fog within 30 minutes, to sunny skies.

We are amazed that the spring colors are so similar to fall

Valentine (from Hungary) and his companion Nora the giraffe

'Dancing pilgrims' sculpture in Palas de Rei

These 48 high school students passed us this morning!

A Camino Surprise

Eighteen months ago I wrote about a chat Ruth had with an elderly Spanish gentleman named Dunicio (see November 1, 2014 post). It was about 2 hours out of Sarria where we had met him, and he had asked Ruth to pray for him and his wife Castora. Ruth had done just that when she reached Santiago, and many times since. So today we watched for him as we walked this segment. For a good while we felt that we must have passed his home, and it seemed so unlikely that he would be out at just the moment we were there.

Then, on the road ahead, was an old man walking toward us. No cows or dog with him this time. He didn't look quite the same, but we stopped him and ask his name, and as he spoke we realized it was him. I showed him the short video I had taken of him in 2014. Ruth asked about Castora. "Si, si, Castora bien.". We shared a few laughs despite the language barrier and his hearing loss.

He gave us two more walnuts.

We will continue to pray for them.

Here is the picture I took in 2014, in the excitement today we did not get the camera out this time.

Day 29 and 30 - To Samos and San Mamede

Two more beautiful days. Much of yesterday's walk down from Fonfria was clouded in fog, but the sun burned it off just before we reached Triacastela, and the walk to Samos was one of the prettiest afternoons ever.

One more important item from the Fonfria visit. Ruth noticed a picture of a baby on the wall near the desk of our host Miguel. He and his wife were indeed the proud parents of the 8 month old baby boy. This boy was not only special to them, but to the whole village, for it was the first baby born to the families of Fonfria in 22 years!  Most of the young people move to the bigger cities, and Miguel told us the farming life will disappear from this area once the older generation is gone. The Camino has provided his family a way to stay in the small town.

The Benedictine monastery in Samos is very impressive. It once had 100 monks in residence. Now there are 8, all of whom participated in the 7:30 pm Mass in the surprisingly cold church.

Today is our 30th day of walking on this trip, and as a reward to ourselves, we walked a very short day. We are at a highly recommended albergue in San Mamede.  It has a very comfortable common area, and a sunny courtyard in which we are relaxing at the momment. It's a bit difficult to not feel bad for the passers-by, looking at us while they move with obvious pain and fatigue. Many of them stop at the long gravel entrance to consider whether or not to stop. The three shaded hammocks seem to call out. Most go on. The major town of Sarria is just an hours walk, and it also has it's appeal.

We enter the land of the "tiny little backpacks and great big shells" tommorrow.

Quote from RA's journal: "How many verses of 'How Great Thou Art' will it take to get me up this hill?"

There's a beautiful valley down there somewhere

The fog lifts

The large monastery of Samos

A muralled hall of the monastery

Much of these two days was through dense forest on nice trails,

With more up and down than this picture shows

We are always thankful for a place to stay, 

Especially so when it is this nice

Day 27 and 28 -To Ruitelan and Fonfria

A fantastic two days. First, over a mountain, and then over a mountain range. We left Villafranca and started straight up a very steep road on Tuesday morning.  The route leveled out about 1000 feet above the valley floor in the middle of a recently burned area (it has burned since our 2012 visit).

The valley name, Valcarce, is derived from the Latin for narrow valley, valle carcere. The hardest part of the hike was the desent into Trabadelo, reminding us of the narrow valley. We continued to the little town of Ruitelan and the albergue Pequeno Potala. There were 9 of us who shared the evening meal of soup, salad, and pasta - it seems this is the standard pilgrim meal.

Wednesday we crossed the mountain pass into Galicia, the province of northwest Spain. It was the last big climb of our trip, although the up and down will continue through the hills to Santiago. We are in one of the best refuges on the Camino, Albergue A Reboliera in Fonfria (Cold Spring). There are 10 of us in the common area sharing our stories and trying to plan the next few days (there are several more folks taking naps, doing laundry, etc). It is SO nice to have a comfortable sitting area in which to relax in the late afternoon.

Ruth and I agreed the weather was perfect. A little frost on the grass this morning, and just warm enough for our final few kilometers mid-day.
Quote from RA's journal: As Sarria nears, the excitment level in the pilgrims increases.

A selfie on Tuesday morning, showing Villafranca and the beginning of the Valcarce valley

Spring flowers in the burn area

Above the clouds as we cross the pass

Welcome to Galicia

Our favorite pilgrim statue, a depiction of Saint Roque.

Day 25 and 26 - To Columbrianos and Villafranca del Bierzo

Our friendly shadows have returned. The sun is out, the mornings brisk and the afternoons pleasant. The Ponferrada valley reminds us of the Bozeman area in southern Montana, a plain of several miles with snow on the peaks in the distance. Villafranca is on the western edge, just where the hills meet the mountains. It is our favorite town in Spain, and we just discovered a wonderful rose garden near the Plaza Mayor. Ruth says in two more weeks the blooms would be amazing.

Because we slowed our pace, we've lost most of the familiar faces. There will be new folks to meet tonight, hopefully over a shared bottle of local wine.

We've stayed in a few places that were rundown or dirty. Tonight's stay, Albergue de la Piedra is wonderful. The Rio Valcarce is tumbling down the narrow canyon, and the building is literally built partly into the mountain bedrock. The only problem is the beds are on the 4th floor, the "banos" on the third, the kitchen on the second, and the exit on the first. Too many stairs for tired pilgrims. The hosts Urai and Libbia are great.

Quote from RA's journal: The reasons for walking this pilgrimage are as varied as the pilgrims themselves.

On the old stone bridge entering Molinaseca

Wisteria in bloom in Ponferrada

Vineyards near Villafranca

We now have about 600 kilometers done, and about 200 to go

Bridge over the Rio Burbia

Days 23 and 24, To Rabanal and Acebo

Rabanal is truely one of our favorites. Less than 2 hours walk from Cruz de Fero, nestled in the hills above the great plains of Spain, and with prayers chanted in Latin every evening. The scripture for the service was Romans 8:1-2; There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus....Read in 4 languages so that everyone present could hear in their own tongue.

This blog is primarily a travel journal of our Camino, but the Cruz de Fero is a very spiritual place. Thousands of pilgrims have placed stones at the base of this cross, which represents the cross of Jesus. The scripture from the night before repeated in my head as we approached the cross. As is our tradition now, we stood nearby and sang the old hymn "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross". And while we ate a snack, I thought about the words of Paul, and what has become my core belief about God: If we want to know what God is like, we must look at Jesus. It is impossible for us to imagine what the Divine is like without contemplating the life of Jesus. He was Immanuel, God with us. Each time he encountered people who felt unloved, he loved them. He refused to retaliate toward the violence he suffered, to the point of pronouncing forgiveness on all mankind as some of his final words.

So we continue our Camino with the large numbers of folks from all over the world. The evening in Rabanal was great, and the decent into Acebo was steep and rocky.  Acebo is a 'city set on a hill', you might even say a mountain. Even though it is well below the top, the slopes still drop off quickly to the west.

The forecast is as unreliable here as it is anywhere. The rain continues. Temperatures in the 50s.
Quote from RA's journal: "Today the Camino Frances feels more like a pilgrimage, the Via de la Plata felt more like a hike."

This is an odd pilgrim sculpture

Castrillo de Polvazares is a very stony town

There must be a better English translation

Looking back at Rabanal

Spring comes late in the high country

One more kilometer on the asphalt to avoid the mud

Day 22 - To Astorga

We reached the 500 km mark today (about 325 miles).  We are begining to feel it. It did not rain, but the flood waters from the last couple of weeks finally gave us fits today.  The mud was horrible in spots. For the first time ever we were forced to remove our boots and put on our crocs/sandals and wade down the "road", in a later spot we decided to just walk through 200 yards of swamp with our boots on, and finally we just chose the highway for the last 4 miles. The good news was that the swamp washed the mud off our boots!

The only other pilgrims we have seen for 4 days are James and Lucas. Now we are in the Astorga albergue which has 150 beds, and dozens of folks coming and going (we have joined the Camino Frances, which is much busier than the Via de la Plata, which we have now completed). We do have a private, one bunk room tonight, but it will be a bit of a shock tomorrow to have many of these pilgrims pass us on the trail.

Since we are back on the Camino Frances, which we wrote about in 2014, I will plan to post only every few days instead of everyday as I have been trying to do. We plan to shorten our walking distances over the next few days to give our bodies a chance to recover.

Our beds last night were hospital beds, we have many different types of refuges on this trip

Another railroad bridge to cross

This is a great trail when it is dry

In English: SAINT JAMES THE PILGRIM

The last few kilometers, our friend James leads the way

Day 20 - To Alija del Infantado and Day 21 To La Baneza

"Rain makes corn,
Corn makes whiskey,
Whiskey makes my baby
Feel a little frisky.
Rain is a good thing."
Luke Bryan

Day 20
Some days are difficult, not because of what that day holds, but what has happened the previous day. This is the case both on the Camino and in life. Today was one of those days. Yesterday's long walk, and particularly the rocky railroad bed, drained our energy. We made it through today's 22 km, but is was not easy.

Alija is a charming town with hills of bodegas nearby (see our October 18, 2014 post for details about these).

The old bridge today reminded us of the one in the movie, where Tom (Martin Sheen) drops his backpack into the water. The Rio Orbigo is much too big to jump into in pursuit of lost luggage. At least it is right now.

Lucas caught up with us late yesterday, and again this evening. He is a 19 year old from England. We all walked to dinner in the rain, although we had to settle for "raciones" at the bar because the only restaurant is closed on Tuesday!

Weather: Low: 49F High 58F Steady, light rain almost all day. A little break here and there, and a bit heavier at times.
Quote from RA's journal: The camino teaches a lot about human nature.
Tips for pilgrims: This stage is 95% on asphalt. The little towns we passed through had stores and bars but all were closed, so we were glad we had some snacks and water.

Day 21
We had a choice today of more asphalt or a dirt track just east of the highway, but near the river. We did some of both. You'll notice a theme in the pictures. Water. We took a farm road back to the highway before we got to the flooded area, but still had to get by a few big puddles.

Weather: I lost my watch/thermometer today, so no more exact temperatures. Rain showers off/on all morning, but the forecast is looking better.
Quote from RA's journal: I'm glad the locals farmers are happy with all this rain!
Tips for pilgrims:  I'm sure the dirt track next to Rio Jamuz is nice in dry weather, but it is challenging when the bottom land is flooded.  Once again, there were no places open for food/drink/bathrooms along this route.

All geared up

Bodegas near Alija del Infantado

Another old bridge

Vineyards that will turn the water to wine.

Spanish version of our Tuesday walking group

Crops of Poplar trees and grain next to each other

Day 19 - To Benevente

"Walking takes longer....life is too short to waste on speed". Edward Abbey

It is odd to walk when others are traveling so much faster. A car goes by on the highway and within one hour they are in a town we will walk to in 4 days. A jet passes over, and in one hour it will travel the distance of our entire 5 week Camino. On the other hand, we probably walked more distance than the snail will cover in it's whole life. It's also odd what I think about while walking.

Today was truly one of the most incredible days of our Camino life. We are now on a four day walk that very few pilgrims make, from Granja to Astorga. The last person to stay in this albergue was 5 days ago!  The most direct route for today was along an abandon railroad, including 8 bridges that have rusted for decades.  In addition, there is currently record flooding of the river and streams these bridges cross. We were adviced against this route by the man in Bar Borox in Barcial, but then a man in a car met us on the alternate gravel road and informed us that the lower route was flooded. So off we went down the old railroad. It was very slow going due to large rocks and blackberry brambles. We met another local walking the opposite direction, who obviously had crossed the bridges, and this was really the only measure of confidence we had.  We made it safely across all obstacles. I'll let the pictures try to tell the story.

Weather: Low 39F High 67F Foggy and cold, then turning mostly sunny.
Quote from RA's journal: "Sometimes a guardian angel looks like an old Spanish man in a car."
Tips for pilgrims: Don't believe everything the locals tell you, sometimes they are right, sometimes they are wrong. I can tell you the old railroad route is difficult, but not impossible. It is the shortest route, and the only reasonable one when the river is flooding.

We took the right fork today.

(both the opposite of left and the correct one)

Cold foggy morning

The snail moves inches as we disappear over the horizon

As we begin down the old railroad bed

Ruth prepares to cross one of the small bridges

The bridge over the main river channel

The normal pilgrim path

Our destination for the evening