Day 2 - Huntto > Roncesvalles -22km

I'm hurtin .....
The walk / climb / trudge / crawl to Roncesvalles was physically the most difficult thing I have done in my life. The night before my Canadian friends had made arrangements for their backpacks to be transported over the mountain. To myself I thought "your not supposed to do that on the Camino"; a thought that I regretted most of the day.

Of course the Pyrenees are extremely beautiful. with every turn, a new panoramic view. And the sheep...well they a simply the highlight of the day; walking on the road with me and ringing their sheep bells, coaxing me on.

It become a mind game to not let the length and the steepness of the hills throw me into desperation. I would look up and see the top, which seemed terribly far away, and tell myself, "just to the top of this hill". I walked with my head down quite a bit, because to constantly be looking at how far away the top was made me feel weaker. Then when I would reach the 'top' it was never the top at all, but just a curve in the mountain, with another very steep hill about a quarter of a kilometer long, this went o. All day, except for the many times that I would stop and remove my bag and stretch. Here I am having lunch with Reine, from London England.

Throughout the day one thought kept repeating in my mind. "Slow and steady wins the race". I became the turtle of the Tortoise and the Hare, enjoying the scenery, and moving forward one step at a time. The great excitement came when it was time to start downhill the 3 km into Roncesvalles; that is, until the descent began. I'm not sue that I could say whether going up the mountain, or going down the mountain is more difficult. The descent was so steep that I had to shuffle along, inch by inch, making 3 km a very long way! With jello legs and aching feet, this was the most beautiful site of the day. Roncesvalles!

Day 1 - St Jean Pied de Port > Huntto

My day started out with trains and more trains. From Bordeaux to Bayonne, then from Bayonne to St Jean Pied de Port (SJPP) where I arrived at 1:30 pm. There were many pilgrims on this last train and the Pilgrims office is about a 10 minute walk from the station. We had to walk up such a steep hill to get there that I felt like I was having cardiac arrest, which is a bit unsettling when you're about to climb a mountain. Here is a picture of me at the pilgrim office, registering and picking up my scalloped shell; sign of the pilgrimage. Either the scalloped shell symbol or a yellow arrow can be seen throughout the route, painter on walls, rocks and trees, to let you know that you are on the right path.

When I left the pilgrim office I wasn't sure which way to start walking, but thought it only make sense to walk uphill. Uphill turned out to be the wrong way which I figured out after finding myself all along at the edge of town. So I made inquiries and had to walk back down the hill to get myself walking in the direction of the mountain. This start in the wrong direction taught me that I'd better not make any more assumption unless I like doing extra walking. SJPP is about the quaintest and prettiest town I've ever seen and if it weren't so darn hard to get to I'd recommend it as a must see.

Since I had such a late start, I made my way to the first Refugio that is only 5 km up the mountain. It was a very steep walk, but 5 km was manageable and I was in pretty good spirits when i got there. Made Friends with 3 wonderful people from Prince George BC and a fabulous woman from South Africa. about 40 people were staying at the Refugio and we were served a delicious dinner, breakfast and given a lunch for the road; including lodging cost was 39€.

I was in a room with 6 people (on the Camino men and women are never given separate quarters) The snoring was pretty intense and I was very grateful to have earplugs! All in all a good day; feeling positive and excited about tomorrow.

Paris Airport

One sees a lot of things in an airport in 6 hours. I took note of a few things that interested me.

• A group of 17 -18 year old girls that sat In a circle for 2 hours talking and nobody was texting. I glance over several times not not once saw a cell phone. This stuck me as the most amazing thing.
• hardly anybody was overweight
• washrooms don't appear to be an important commodity. I searched for half an hour until asking someone, only to find out that they are only in the basement and you have to pay to use them. AND there were no toilet seats.
• nobody seems to care that they're not online. There was no easily available wireless, even on the eurorail. Withdrawal.
• lot of young women in the Paris airport dress in a style that I'm not accustomed to. I'll leave it at that, not wanting to be judgmental.
I have a feeling that I have many lessons about various cultures in store for me.

9:50 pm:
After a 5 hour train ride, I have now checked into a very basic, but sort of cute hotel near the train station in Bordeaux St. Jean (that St. Jean guy was popular). A shower and a good nights sleep will be awesome. Right now some quiche and salad are looking quite amazing!

Set backs or Fate

Sometimes a chain of events just happens. My flight out of London was 45 min late taking off, THEN, after running full speed through the Toronto airport to catch next flight, my flight to Paris was 2 hours late leaving. THEN I had missed my train to Bordeaux and can't get another one until 4:30 pm. WHICH MEANS that I miss my train to St Jean Pied de Port, where I start the Camino AND where I have a reservation at a B&B and have no way of canceling. All added up, I lose a full day and spending about $180; thanks Air Canada.

I think when you're on the Camino you're supposed to view setbacks like this a 'all part of the journey' and the difference of a day may chance the entire Camino experience. Maybe soon I'll be Zen about it all, but right now, after 2 hours sleep, I'm slightly annoyed.

Onward and upward.....

Two More Sleeps!

My last day of work for 6 weeks! During the last few days there are so many things on my to-do list that simply must get done in order to leave life-as-I-know-it behind. I’m fortunate to have my son staying at the house with Daisy, and I know he will do a bang-up job at keeping the plants alive too. My training continues to go well, but I honestly don’t think there is an effective way of preparing to walk up a mountain, other than to just look up at it and say, “I’m going to walk up you mountain”.


As I meet friends who have read my blog there are several questions that commonly get asked. I’ve decided to write a brief FAQ here.

1. Number one question by far – Are you walking with a group?

Answer – No I’m not walking with a group. While some groups do walk the Camino, most people walk it alone. They meet others along the way and either walk with these new found friends or some prefer to walk in solitude. I will probably prefer to walk with people because I am a talker!

2. How much does it cost?

Answer – There’s no actual fee to walk the Camino. The main cost is in the transportation to get there and home again. There is also the cost of buying the equipment because ultra lite sleeping bags and backpacks aren’t cheap! And who knew that quik-dry travel underwear is $25 per pair! The hostels (or Refugios) are either by donation or about 7 Euros per night. Food can be another 10-15 Euros per day. Of course all of this is what I’m told, having never done it, so I’ll let you know if I experience otherwise.

3. How do you sign up?

Answer – You don’t sign up ahead of time. You just show up at the St. Jean Pied de Port pilgrim’s office and register when you’re ready to start walking. You can also start anywhere along the route and don’t have to walk the whole 800 km. In fact in order to receive the Compostela in Santiago you only have to walk the last 100 km. I’ve heard that for pilgrims who have been walking for 700 km and then all of a sudden come upon the influx of ‘newbies’ in the last 100, there can be a certain feeling of judgment about them being the ‘cheaters’.

4. When does it start?

Answer – There is no official start date; just do it!

And there you have it…. The top questions asked.

As for all the advice I’ve been getting from friends…. Well that’s another story. But I just want to say that only my mother is allowed to say, “Don’t overdo it”, and “don’t try to be a hero” (I may not listen, but she can say it). As for the rest of you who are telling me, “Don’t overdo it”, thanks for the love, but you’re too late; I’m walking 800 km carrying 18 lbs. So I challenge you to “overdo it” just a little bit and to walk at least 3 km per day while I am gone!

Buen Camino

And then there's the weight.....

I think sometimes as humans we're delusional. Actually, for me it seems to happen often, where I get an image in my mind of how some situation will be, and then there's reality. I had an idea in my mind about how I'd feel carrying 17 lbs on my back. I know I said before about my backpack weighing a bit over 14, but that was because I was also delusional about the weight of water. I thought "how hard can it be to carry 17 lbs?" I remember carrying babies around for hours that must have weighed at least that. I guess that's why the universe doesn't typically permit women over 50 to have babies, because as shocking as this may seem, I am not as strong now as I was when I was 30.

Today I walked for 12 km carrying 17 lbs on my back. I hope that I'm not being delusional thinking that when I'm overlooking the beautiful scenery in Spain and trying to speak Spanish to locals alone the road that, while that back might feel as heavy, I will at least be having more fun. It is really hard to be enthusiastic about trying to train for distance and weight by walking in my own home town. And surely after a few days I'll start to get stronger (secretly wishing I'd been a bit more serious about those core strength exercises when I went to the gym).

12 days to go before I leave. Fun or not, I will put some effort into this training, in the hopes that it will decrease the suffering going over that mountain.

The Preparations Continue...

.... And the results are in! The backpack weighs 14.6 lbs. with no water. I’m not sure this is too good, but it’s not too bad either and will have to do for now. I may end up leaving stuff behind in hotel rooms and pouring shampoo down the sink out of desperation to lighten the load!

The other part of preparing for my Camino is the physical training. If anyone in my hometown sees a lady in hiking boots, backpack, a Tilley-knockoff hat and using hiking poles walking down Richmond, it is probably me. It may appear obvious that the best way to prepare for a long walk is to just walk, but we’re talking about very serious walking here. So I joined up with a group a very serious walkers; the Running Room’s half-marathon walking group.

I have learned that there is a difference between hiking (what I’m doing) and marathon walking. These wonderful people walk fast. For them it is as much about time as it is distance and I am finding it challenging to keep up, but so far I’m doing pretty well. We walk three times per week and this morning did 16 km.  And there I was, bring up the rear, trying not to complain too much about the fact that it was pouring rain and my backpack was so soaked that it was getting heavier by the minute. But despite the rain and the heat and my hips seizing up regularly, this is just the greatest group of people. It’s been so much fun getting to know them as we walk and talk and walk and talk. Looking forward to doing 18 km next Sunday!

I would like to say a bit on the value of hiking poles. Mine are called ‘Pacer Poles’ and they really make a big difference, especially going up and down hills. Almost everything I’ve learned about how to walk the Camino has been from the Camino de Santiago Forum (Link on the right of this page) and almost everyone there says that hiking poles are a must. Going up hill they give you four legs instead of two and when going down steep hills give you stability and balance. In some areas it could be dangerous to not have them, especially on trails that are close to a drop-off.

For the next three weeks my challenge will be to focus on work and to not constantly be thinking about getting on that plane! Yes, only 3 weeks from today I will be in St Jean Pied de Port, France, ready to embark on my 5-week journey!