Gmap Pedometer

After the discussion of a few of our training hikes, you may wonder how we plan these hikes and determine the distances involved.  I’m sure there are many computer programs that do this, and the one I use is called Gmap Pedometer.  It’s not really a program per se, but an applet that runs within one of the family of Google Maps websites.  It’s designed for runners and bikers, but works equally well for hikers.  If desired, you have the option of creating a maintaining a workout log, although I don’t personally take advantage of that option.  It can also create a rudimentary elevation profile of the completed route.

To use Gmap Pedometer, just type http://www.gmap-pedometer.com in your browser’s address line, and there you are.  You are given the choice of map formats – a basic 2-dimensional street map, a satellite view, a hybrid view (satellite view with streets overlaid), a terrain view, or a topo view – and English or metric units.  Routes can be created in any of the view modes, and you can switch back and forth between views as you work.  You can also switch between modes for runners, bikers, or manually creating straight line segments (the latter is useful when the program doesn’t recognize the road or trail you’re following).  To get started, zoom into the location you’re interested in, select the starting point by double clicking, and select subsequent points by double clicking along the way.  The total mileage is displayed in the control panel on the left side of the screen.  For out-and-back routes, clicking “Complete there and back route” will overlay mile markers for the return leg and show the overall total mileage. When comparing the displayed mileage to my handheld Garmin GPS after hiking a route, I’ve found it to always be accurate with a tenth of a mile.  When the route is completed you can print it to have a map to carry with you, or export it as a .gpx file for use with a GPS.  You can also save routes for future reference or for sharing.  You must register and sign in, however, to save routes or to recover previously saved routes. 

Here’s a link to a saved route of one of our training hikes along the Highline Canal:  http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6011673 .  This route will open in terrain view, which I prefer for printing.  As you look at the route, you can zoom in and out, scroll around, and switch views at will.

A Few Training Walks

Since beginning our training walks late last summer (2012), we’ve been pretty consistent in getting in three to four hikes per week, excluding those times previously mentioned.  While we haven’t kept accurate records of each hike, it’s safe to say that we averaged 15 miles for the first couple of months and have steadily increased our weekly average to the 35 miles or so that we’re doing now.  So in the last ten months, after subtracting travel and health-related exclusions, it’s probably a reasonable estimate to say we’ve walked somewhere between 500 and 600 miles as we’ve trained for the Camino de Santiago.  While a great many of these miles have been through our neighborhood and the surrounding area, a large percentage of them have been on dedicated hiking and bike trails in area open space parks and, in some cases, state parks.  A few of these are listed below.

Highline Canal: This is one of the best, if not the best, places to hike while training.  Stretching over 66+ miles across the metro Denver area from Waterton Canyon in the southwest to Green Valley Ranch near DIA, it offers numerous access points with parking.  Routes can be hiked in either direction from the parking areas for distances as long as desired.  It is mostly an all-weather trail, except after heavy snowfall in the winter.  The surface is generally hard-packed gravel, which is easy on the feet.  The only disadvantage of the Highline Canal is that the trail is virtually flat, with no variety of elevation changes. 

Waterton Canyon:  Another great, generally all-weather hike on a hard-packed gravel road.  The distance from the parking lot to the Strontia Springs dam is 6.7 miles, or 13.4 miles round-trip.  Like the Highline Canal, though, it is virtually level all the way.

Platte River Trail:  Several different hikes of varying lengths can be layed out, with access and parking at most major east-west street crossings.  Another very flat, essentially level trail which is hard-surfaced concrete (hard on the feet after several miles).  So far we have hiked the entire distance from inside Chatfield State Park northward to the River Point shopping center at Hampden Ave in segments of varying length; however the trail continues northward to downtown Denver and beyond.

Bear Creek Trail: Another good trail that runs alongside Bear Creek in the southwest Denver metro area.  Access points with nearby parking include the Stone House Park on South Estes St in Lakewood, Bear Valley Park on West Dartmouth St west of Sheridan Blvd, Bear Creek Park south of Hampden (accessed via South Raliegh St, and the River Point shopping center southwest of the intersection of Hampden Ave (US 285) and South Santa Fe (US 85).  The total length of the trail is approximately 7.25 miles between Morrison Rd and the River Point shopping center.  The Bear Creek Trail intersects the Platte River trail at the River Point shopping center, and hikes can be extended northward or southward along the Platte River Trail from that point.

Green Mountain (Hayden Green Mountain Park): This park contains a network of trails of varying lengths and elevation gains.  The Green Mountain trail, which circumnavigates the southern two-thirds of the park, can be accessed from either the Rooney Rd parking lot on the west side or from any of the three parking lots on West Alameda Pkwy on the east and south sides of the park.  This trail is a bit over six miles in length, skirting the southern half of Green Mountain and crossing the mountain itself, a climb of roughly 600 feet up and another 600 feet back down.  Several other trails intersect this trail and can be added for additional overall length and elevation gain/loss.  A portion of the trail on the west side is on a maintained gravel service road leading to the transmitter tower near the summit; otherwise all other trails are single track dirt.

North Table Mountain (Golden): Similar to Green Mountain, this park has a trail which essentially circumnavigates North Table Mountain for a total distance of approximately 7-1/2 to 8 miles.  Access is from a parking lot on Hwy 93, just north of Golden.  The trail begins with a long, steep climb of 450 feet or so over a distance of approximately one-half mile.  It then crosses the flat top of the mountain before descending down the southern and eastern flanks of the mesa.  From there, it’s a fairly level trail around the east, north and west base of the mountain back to the parking lot.  There are additional intersecting trails which can be added to increase the overall length of the hike – these all involve climbing back over the top of the mesa.  Trails are all dirt and gravel.

Roxborough State Park: This close-by state park offers numerous trails which are good training hikes.  Most of the trails are rather short, but since they all start at or near the visitor center and radiate outward, two or mor can be combined to total eight to ten miles.  Several of the trails, such as the Carpenter Peak Trail, include elevation gains of a few hundred to more than a thousand feet.

Sharptail Ridge - Roxborough Loop:  An 8-1/2 mile loop starting and ending at the Douglas County Open Space trailhead on Roxborough Park Rd.  The trail follows the Sharptail Ridge southward for approximately 3-1/2 miles, where it enters Roxborough State Park.  Follow a series of trails within the state park back to the entrance road and walk along the entrance road to Roxborough Park Rd and back to the trailhead.

Chatfield Reservoir Loop: An 11-mile loop around the reservoir at Chatfield State Park.  The trail is mostly hard-surface concrete, with very little shade so it can be hot in the summertime.

Staunton State Park: This is a new state park near Shaffer’s Crossing on US 285, a few miles past Conifer.  There is a nice in-and-back hike of 11+ miles from the entrance area up to the Elk Falls overlook.

Preparing for the Camino, Part 3

For the final installment of preparing for the Camino, I’ll talk about our training regimen.  Actually, I wouldn’t exactly call it a regimen since that implies something much more rigid and structured than what we’ve been doing, so perhaps routine is a better word.  In short, the routine is walk, walk, walk, and then walk some more. 

Prior to making the decision to walk the Camino de Santiago, our dedicated hiking consisted of our weekly Tuesday hikes with our informal hiking group.  This group meets throughout the year (unless the weather is really bad) and hikes for distances varying between four to seven or eight miles.  In the summer and early fall, we typically drive up into the mountains west of Denver and add some elevation to the agenda, with hikes starting at nine or ten thousand feet and ending at eleven or twelve thousand feet.  We especially enjoy the wildflower hikes in late June and early August, and the aspen hikes in late September and early October.  Once the weather cools down and it starts snowing in the high country, we move back down to the many urban and suburban trails where the elevation varies from 5500 to 7500 feet.  We also manage to get in a couple of snowshoe hikes when there’s sufficient snow at some of the local open space and state parks.  In addition to these group hikes, Jeanette and I have usually managed to get in leisurely walks of two or three miles around the neighborhood a couple of times a week.

None of this, however, does much for preparing for the grind of walking twelve to fifteen or more miles, day after day, while carrying a backpack.  (We always carry a daypack with raingear, basic first aid supplies, and snacks on our longer group hikes, especially on the summer and fall hikes in the high country.  But that’s typically only a four or five pound load, which is much less than the 15 to 18 pounds we’ll be carrying on the Camino.)  So we realized that we had to start being more aggressive in our walks if we were to consider them training for the Camino.

We started off late last summer, at first walking three to five miles at a time, two or three times a week in addition to our weekly group hikes.  Instead of our leisurely strolls, we quickened our pace up to a little over three miles per hour.  After a few weeks of this, we started extending a couple of these walks to five to seven miles, getting our weekly total up to 20 or so miles.  Our training was interrupted in late September and early October while we went on a cruise that we had planned earlier in the year plus a week to see family in Texas and to attend a family reunion, but we got back on schedule and resumed the training walks in late October.  By now, we were getting bored with walking around the neighborhood, so we started walking the urban trails we used with our hiking group.  The Denver area is blessed with literally hundreds of miles of walking trails and bike paths, and we became very familiar with many of them.

In November, I bought new hiking boots and started to break them in during my training walks, plus started trying out and evaluating different combinations of sock types and liners.  Shortly before Christmas, Jeanette suffered a nasty ankle sprain while hanging Christmas decorations, and that set our training back at least a month until she was comfortable walking again.  But we were soon upping our distance to 8 to 10 miles a couple of times a week, with shorter hikes in between.  In February, Jeanette decided it was time to get new boots and go through the same break-in and sock evaluation that I had done earlier.  We were feeling pretty good at this time, doing 20-25 miles a week, so much so that I started thinking about moving our Camino dates up to the May/June timeframe.  Then Jeanette started to notice a dull pain in her left arm while walking, especially when going uphill.  Uh-oh, these were the symptoms a friend had felt before having a minor heart attack.  So she went thorough a series of medical tests and discovered a blockage in one of her coronary arteries.  The blockage was located in a spot which would make placing a stent difficult, so the cardiologist decided to treat the condition with medications and see what happened.  Fortunately, the meds seemed to be working, and in late May, he gave her the go-ahead to walk the entire Camino. 

But during this process, our training had suffered another setback, so beginning in early June we accelerated our walking distance, started using our trekking poles, and added our backpacks while walking.  At first we carried only half of our intended load in the backpacks, but we have slowly brought that up to the full weight of all our gear.  It was with the increased backpack loads that I started noticing the pain from the pinched nerve in my scapular region that I mentioned in the last post, so I’m currently going through an evaluation of backpacks, plus have undertaken a dedicated exercise and physical therapy routine to try to alleviate that problem before we leave.  Also, as mentioned earlier, we have both switched boots as our feet have expanded and adapted to all this walking.  We’re now doing 30+ miles a week, and hope to get that up to at least 40 to 50 miles a week over the next month.  We know we’ll be averaging 12½ miles a day on the Camino, and we hope to make that distance our goal at least three times a week during these final weeks of training.  So little time, so many miles to go...

Preparing for the Camino, Part 2

OK, now that we’ve discussed the general issues concerning the gathering of basic information about the Camino de Santiago, let’s talk about how we’re preparing equipment-wise.  First off, you have to remember that we can only take what we can carry in our backpacks.  But since we’re not camping on the Camino, we don’t have to worry about a tent, stove, or food and water for several days because we’re staying in albergues (hostels) for sleeping and shelter.  Some albergues provide evening meals and a light breakfast, otherwise we’ll be eating at small bars (a.k.a. cafes) or local restaurants.  We’ll carry bread, cheese, and sausage for lunch along the pathway, or stop for a sandwich or tapas in the villages we travel through.  So basically we’re just carrying two sets of clothes – what we’re wearing plus a spare set.  We’ll also carry a rain jacket and rain pants, a light pile jacket, a very lightweight sleeping bag and perhaps a silk or synthetic bag liner, basic toiletries and our normal prescription medications, a pair of sandals or flip-flops to wear in the evenings, plus miscellaneous odds and ends like guidebooks, small camera, small flashlight and/or headlamp, a journal, and a cell phone or smart phone.  Some folks get ambitious and take a tablet computer or netbook, but remember, the weight of these items adds up fast.  The recommended rule of thumb for the weight of the backpack, including the pack itself and all its contents, is 10 percent of one’s body weight.  That’s based on a person of average fitness and conditioning.  Others suggest trying to stay as close to 15 pounds as possible.

Clothing needs to be as lightweight and multi-purpose as possible, and definitely needs to be made out of quick-drying synthetics because we’ll be washing the clothes worn each day and donning the next day’s outfit as soon as we get out of our afternoon/evening shower.  All clothing therefore has to dry rapidly so it will be ready to pack for the next day before we go to bed.  Our basic outfit will be shorts with zip-off legs, a polypropylene tee shirt, and a lightweight long-sleeved shirt for sun protection and cooler weather.  We’ll also have a pile jacket or vest, and our rain jackets will double as windbreakers when needed.  We’ll also have wide-brimmed hats for sun protection, plus a pile cap and pile gloves for cool mornings or evenings as we wander around the towns and villages.  If it’s really cold, we both are bringing a pair of silk long-john bottoms for added warmth.  However, based on statistical data, we don’t anticipate temperatures below the low 50's at night or above the low 90's in the daytime – we’re hoping that the statistics hold true.

The two most important items of equipment are our backpacks and footwear.  A good backpack for the Camino is larger than a day pack, but smaller than an expedition pack.  Most experienced pilgrims recommend something between 35 and 50 liters capacity and weighing between two and four pounds empty.  Jeanette has chosen a 40-liter REI backpack, and I originally chose a 38-liter Osprey backpack.  However, since we’ve started training with loaded backpacks, I’ve discovered a chronic pinched nerve condition in my back, so I’m currently re-evaluating the type of pack I’ll be carrying.  The experts at REI have recommended a pack with a more rigid internal frame to relieve the stress on that particular part of my back.  The new pack I’m testing weighs slightly more than the Osprey and has a larger capacity – 48 liters – which will make packing a bit easier. 

As for footwear, while many pilgrims get by with running shoes or cross-trainers, lightweight,  hiking boots or low-top hiking shoes with sturdy soles and good lateral support are preferred.  We’ve therefore decided to wear lightweight, waterproof hiking boots.  As with the backpacks, we’ve gone through a number of boots to get a good fit – as of today, I’m on my second pair and Jeanette is on her third.  I highly recommend REI for major purchases such as boots and backpacks because of their very liberal return/exchange policy; basically buy it, try it for a while, then either keep it or return it for exchange or your money back with no questions asked.  If  undecided between brand A and brand B, they even say take them both home, try them, and return the one you don’t like.

Another accessory we’ll be taking are trekking poles.  Neither of us have used trekking poles in the past, but we’ve started using them during our training and have really come to appreciate the advantages they offer.  Besides providing balance on uneven terrain, we’ve been amazed to discover the amount of stress they take off our knees going downhill and the weight they take off our legs going uphill.  I’d estimate that if used properly, the trekking poles can transfer ten percent or more of my total weight from my legs to my arms, giving me more of a whole-body workout as I walk.  Plus they absorb a great deal of the normal shock that each step places on my lower back. 

Now for travel to and from Spain.  This is the major expense of the trip, currently running between $1200 and $1500 per person, round trip.  We don’t do a lot of airline traveling, but we have accumulated enough frequent flyer miles between the two of us to pay for one of the tickets, so that helped a lot.  There are numerous routes from the U.S. to Spain, but we’re taking the most direct we could find with the fewest changes along the way.  We’ll be flying from Denver to Newark, then directly to Madrid from Newark.  The return home at the end of the Camino will be the reverse.  We’ll be taking a bus directly from the Madrid airport to Pamplona, then spending one night in Pamplona to ease the jet lag.  The next day we’ll take another bus from Pamplona to St Jean Pied de Port, spend another night there in an albergue, and start walking the following morning.  On the return, we’ll take the bus or a train (we haven’t decided which) from Santiago back to Madrid, spend the night in a hotel at the Madrid airport and depart the following morning for home.  We’ve allotted 40 days for the walk itself, which means approximately 12½ miles per day.  We’re allowing three or four rest days along the way, primarily in the larger cities like Logrono, Burgos, and Leon.  If we find our strength and endurance growing as we progress and we reach Santiago sooner than originally planned, we’ll have the option of continuing on to Finisterre on the Atlantic coast west of Santiago or perhaps detouring through Portugal to visit the shrine at Fatima on our way back to Madrid.  But neither of those are on our basic itinerary, so we’ll just have to see if and how that works out.

Preparing for the Camino, Part 1

Other than getting yourself in shape physically, how do you prepare for the Camino?  I’m sure it was more difficult in the pre-internet days, but in today’s world it’s mainly doing a lot of online research, particularly drawing on the experiences of those who have been there/done that.  And in particular, those who have posted their experiences on the many Camino-related fora (I guess that’s the plural of forum) and in blogs.  For me, one forum in particular, the Camino de Santiago Forum, http://www.caminodesantiago.me/board/, has been a great resource.  And there are others, too numerous to mention, that have contributed a wealth of knowledge about routes, gear, what to expect, weather, accommodations, travel to and from the chosen starting points and back home again – the list goes on and on. 

In addition, there are the pilgrim societies or confraternities found in most countries.  These are organizations made up of current and former pilgrims to educate and assist prospective pilgrims as they prepare for their journeys, issue pilgrim credentials (more on this later), and in some cases, operate or assist in the operation of the lodgings along the many paths to Santiago.  In the U.S., the pilgrim society is called American Pilgrims on the Camino, http://americanpilgrims.com/.  The national organization has local or regional chapters in many cities across the country.  We are fortunate to have a chapter here called the Colorado Front Range Chapter.  The chapter organizes social events, information sessions, group training hikes, and a very touching Shell Ceremony in which prospective pilgrims are gifted with a scallop shell, which is the symbol of the Camino de Santiago.  (For information about the symbolism of the scallop shell see http://americanpilgrims.com/camino/history.html#scallop_shell .)  Another tremendous resource offered by our local chapter is a mentoring program, which pairs an experienced peregrino with a newbie to answer questions and provide moral support.  Our mentor is a great guy named Dave Stalls.  Dave walked the Camino with his son, Jonathon, in the fall of 2012, so his memories and experiences are still fresh in his mind.

And last but not least are the plethora of books, both factual and fictional, about the Camino.  We’ve read several of the more popular books currently on the market, and the one we’ve enjoyed the most is titled Walking in a Relaxed Manner, by Joyce Rupp.  Joyce Rupp is a Catholic nun and retreat director, author of a number of spiritual books, and is a frequent contributor to several daily and weekly devotional publications.  While not a book, the recent movie, “The Way,” starring Martin Sheen, probably has done more to popularize the Camino than all the printed literature in current circulation.  From all reports, the movie presents walking the Camino in a very accurate, although somewhat condensed manner – at least as far as one can expect from Hollywood.  We’ve now seen the movie twice, and will let you know how accurate we feel it is after we’ve completed the walk.  Then, of course, there are the guidebooks – handy guides to the individual routes of the Camino de Santiago which contain all the pertinent information, including detailed maps, for that route.  To see examples of the many guidebooks, just go to Amazon.com and type in “Camino de Santiago guidebook.”

That covers the gamut of general information about preparation for the Camino.  Next time I’ll discuss our specific preparations, what we’re taking in the way of clothing and gear, and how we’re getting there.

OK, so what is the Camino de Santiago?

First off, the Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St James, is no one thing.  It is rather a collection of pilgrimage routes beginning at various places in Europe which all eventually come together at Santiago de Compestela, a city of roughly 100,000 inhabitants located in Galicia, a province in far northwestern Spain.  Santiago is traditionally known as the burial place of the apostle James, one of the twelve original followers of Jesus.  Beginning sometime prior to the twelfth century and perhaps as early as the ninth century, pilgrims came from across Europe to visit the site.  It was, and remains to be, one of the three major pilgrimage sites in the Christian world, the others being Rome and Jerusalem.  Rather than going into detail about the history of the Camino de Santiago, I suggest going to the following website for more information:
http://americanpilgrims.com/camino/history.html .  There are, of course, a myriad of other websites which discuss the history of the Camino, as it’s popularly known, and a Google search will reveal a lifetime of reading for those who are curious.

As noted above, there are a number of identifiable routes which collectively make up the Camino de Santiago; 23 of these can be seen on the following map:

 

(Map courtesy of the American Pilgrims on the Camino)

As you can see, the majority of these routes lie entirely within Spain, although some originate in Portugal, France, and beyond.  Currently, the most popular routes are the Camino Francés, the Camino Inglés, the Camino del Norte, and the Camino Primativo (the routes numbered 1 through 4 on the map above).  Of these, the Camino Francés is by far the most popular, and it is the route we will be taking.  The Camino Portugués (route 12 on the map) is also a popular route, and many pilgrims add the Camino Finisterre (route 13), a short route that extends westward from Santiago to the coastal towns of Finisterre and Muxia, to their pilgrimage after completing their main walk from wherever to Santiago.  Here's a better overall map of the Camino Francés:

 (Map courtesy of the Camino de Santiago internet forum)

The route we will take, the Camino Francés, is the route featured in the movie, “The Way.”  It starts in St Jean Pied de Port, a small village just inside France at the eastern foot of the Pyrenees mountains, and continues westward for approximately 800 kilometers, or 475 miles, through the Spanish cities of Pamplona, Lograno, Burgos, Leon, and Lugo to Santiago.  The immediate challenge on Day 1 involves crossing the Pyrenees, a climb of 4100 feet over a distance of 13½ miles, then a descent of roughly 850 feet to the town of Roncesvalles, Spain in another two miles.  It is not a beginning for the faint of heart, and we hope our training at 5500 to 9000 feet will give us an advantage that the vast majority of others coming from lower elevations do not enjoy.  (In fact, while we will cross at least three mountain ranges on the way to Santiago, nowhere does the elevation exceed our elevation here at home, which is 5540 feet.)  While most perigrinos, or pilgrims, do this first stage in one day, we concede our limitations and will do it in two days, spending the first night at an albergue (hostel) in Orisson, which is located approximately 7 miles west of and 1700 feet or so higher than St Jean Pied de Port.  Most pilgrims spend 30 to 33 days on the Camino Francés; however, we anticipate a more leisurely pace and have allowed 40 days to reach Santiago.  This will let us reduce the typical day’s walk to an average of 12½ miles, plus let us have three or four rest days along the way.

Next, I’ll discuss our planning for the Camino and our training as we prepare for this journey.

The Blog Redux – You’re Gonna What???

Yep, it’s true.  We’re gonna walk 475 miles or so along the Camino de Santiago in Spain.  That’s our next big travel plan, set to take place in mid-August through the entire month of September of this year (2013).  Most folks we talk to have heard of the Camino de Santiago, mainly through the movie “The Way,” which came out a couple of years ago and starred Martin Sheen.  The Camino de Santiago, known also as The Way or simply The Camino, is an ancient religious pilgrimage dating back more than a thousand years when pilgrims from all across Europe began making their way to the Cathedral of St James the Apostle in the city of Santiago de Compestela in the far northwest corner of Spain.  They traveled for various reasons – as a penance, to gain an indulgence, or perhaps to give thanks for a special healing.  Pilgrims have continued to come to Santiago de Compestela in varying numbers ever since; however, the numbers have recently soared, and tens of thousands make the trek every year.  While it has always been a religious pilgrimage, primarily for Roman Catholics, more and more people are walking the Camino as a secular adventure that has nothing to do with their religious beliefs or lack thereof.  In particular, for Europeans, I guess you might say it’s their equivalent of the Appalachian Train, the Colorado, Trail, or the Pacific Crest Trail.  The recent resurgence in awareness of the Camino de Santiago can be traced not only the Sheen movie, but also to books by Paolo Coelho, Shirley MacLain, and others who for various reasons have made the walk and written about it.

But enough about the general background – why are we, Jeanette and I, doing this?  I can only speak for myself, of course – perhaps Jeanette will pop in sometime and talk about her reasons.  For me, I have heard about the pilgrimage to Santiago and the traditional tomb of the Apostle James (the Spanish word Santiago means St James) for many years.  I have heard stories of people – friends of friends and so forth – who have walked the path or at least portions of the path in the past, and while it has always aroused my curiosity, it was never to the level of actually examining my conscience to determine if I felt the call to make an actual pilgrimage.  So what has changed?  It’s hard to say, but my prayer life has grown over the past year as we’ve been attending healing services at a place called “The Barn.”  This is an actual barn located between Conifer and Evergreen, Colorado, a couple of mountain communities just west of our home in Denver.  It is a actual barn which has been “redecorated” as a non-denominational chapel for weddings, funerals, and similar small services.  On Tuesday nights, a prayer group called the Intercessors of the Trinity (IOTT), founded by Deacon Brian Kerby and his wife, Dee, meets at the barn for healing prayer.  While Brian is a permanent deacon at Christ the King parish in Evergreen, the IOTT is not a ministry of that parish.  My prayer life has grown immensely through the physical, emotional, and spiritual healings that we’ve seen take place there, and as a part of the growth, I’ve come to feel the need to do something really special and meaningful to thank God for all the blessings in my life – thus the calling to make the pilgrimage along the Way of St James.  Yes, the movie was something of a catalyst in that it showed us what was actually involved in making the Camino de Santiago and eased our minds about the logistics of such a journey.  So beginning just about a year ago we began to plan in earnest and start training for the physical challenges of walking 12 to 15 or more miles a day for six weeks.

Most of our friends and family members who followed our blog as we traveled to Alaska and back in our motor home two years ago have known of these plans, and have been bugging us to rekindle our travel blog on this journey.  My standard answer has been, no, I don’t plan to write a blog about this trip, at least not concurrently.  The nature of a pilgrimage is focusing on inward reflections.  While I do plan to keep a written journal, I can’t see having or spending time on a computer each day writing a blog.  Besides, I don’t have the room or the capacity in my backpack for a computer or even my little Samsung tablet.  But Jeanette found an app for her smartphone (I’m not taking mine) that will allow her to make blog entries and even post a photo or two along the way, so she will be posting brief entries here as long wi-fi and/or 3G/4G access is available in the albergues (hostels) where we’ll be spending most nights.  Meanwhile, either she or I may be posting more info regarding the Camino de Santiago and our planning and training in the days ahead before we depart in five short weeks, so keep in tune.