On the topic of pilgrimages…

What is pilgrimage anyway?

A pilgrimage is a journey with a special purpose, some might even say sacred or spiritual. It’s a journey of the heart. Every step along the way has meaning. The pilgrim knows that daily challenges will happen, there will be pain and fatigue. It is not a vacation; it is a transformational journey during which significant personal change takes place. You discover things about yourself that you never new existed. New and old places in the heart are visited. Blessings are received and healing takes place. On return from the pilgrimage, life is seen through different eyes.

And nothing will ever be the same again. That’s why I walk.

St James The Apostle, Le Puy en Velay

The Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St. James, is an ancient pilgrimage trail originating in medieval times. Made up of a vast network of roads and paths, pilgrims travel these paths to arrive at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.There are literally roads and paths all over Europe that lead to Santiago, where the Apostle’s bones are thought to be interred.

This is my 3rd Camino and the start could not have been any better. Had we started any time last week we’d be walking in temperatures close to 100. But as luck would have it, the day we arrived Le Puy, temps fell to the 70s and will stay this way all week, and, what a joy, with rain several of the days.

We kicked off today at 7am for a 15 mile hike with about 2500 feet elevation gain. Climbing out of Le Puy was tough. My backpack is about 15 pounds (including water) so lugging that up the mountain was a challenge. I’ve been walking a lot but haven’t done much with a pack more than 6 or 7 pounds. Once we climbed out we had about 8 miles of slow gentle incline, about a 5% grade, then holy shit, between miles 10 and 12 I thought I might pass out it was so steep. Scott and I used the trick I learned on my first camino climbing over the Pyrenees…walk 25 steps and stop and breathe. We did that the entire way up. I learned this from a Peregrino I met on day 1. Mike from Virginia, a close to 70 year old man who’d just had heart surgery and decided to walk the camino, was a PCT hiker. I got lucky when I met him because he helped me that day and taught me so much about hiking that I carry with me. The Camino Provides.

I could not wait to get to mile 12 because I knew there we would begin our descent into St Privat d’Allier. While going down is not necessarily easier on your body, it’s easier on the lungs. And my lungs needed a break. :)

The beginning of the descent was fairly easy, though steep…and our legs were becoming fatigued…but we were so close. Just a half mile out we made a left hand turn and I thought we were home free. But we weren’t. Nope. That last half mile was crazy. Probably about 20% grade, rocky and tree roots. That half mile should have taken 5 to 7 minutes and it took us close to half hour. We were tip toe-ing down because I don’t want to break another ankle or my neck and Scott would prefer to not break any bones in his life time…and this youngster boy came cruising by. He did that part of the descent in about 5 minutes. When we arrived the bottom he was sitting in the shade with his feet in the river. Smiling. Damn kids. :) I didn’t get any pictures on the way down because I was concentrating on not hurting myself and having to be evacuated out on my first day. But at the bottom just before we reached town we came across this beautiful old building that we are told was a stopping point for pilgrims. It’s been rebuilt and maintained over the years but is not currently being used for anything. I’d like to live here. I’d build a trolley on that last half mile so that pilgrims like me had an option other than risking broken body parts.

Today was 15 miles. Even with that last half mile we finished in 6 hours. Tomorrow is another 15 and the next day is 20. So by the end of day 3 we will have completed the first 50 miles. I’m not looking any further out than that because the miles are daunting.

The little creek at the base of our descent.

Just before beginning the crazy downhill. I was smiling because I didn’t know what was coming.

Scott at the base giving thanks that we didn’t have to call emergency evac.

That’s it. Day 1. We survived and are still married. But check back next week…anything can happen. Haha

I decided to raise money for IMPACT Melanoma during my walk, in memory of The Ginger. So if you like to contribute click the link that I think I just attached. If it’s not there and you want to donate I’m happy to send you the link. Just message me.

Bon Chemin! Buen Camino! #ForTheGinger.