At the end of a long day of 27 km and 39,000 steps, we stumble into Casa Susi in Trabadelo. As the owner glides down the stairs, I preemptively answer the question they always ask, which is, “Do you have a reservation?” As I rush into this un-greeting, he doesn’t even answer, he just smiles…

Foggy pre-dawn starts up a final hill and officially onto the Mesita – the flat table-top plains that some find boring and is supposed to challenge us mentally for the next ten days or so. A time to ponder big questions, and for these first few days it seems that the How and Why of…

This 2-day walk from Belorado to Burgos is one of great contrasts – in landscape, emotions, history, geography. We leave yesterday’s windy open hillsides and plunge uphill into beautiful forest land.  So many branches and trees down, thankfully no-one was hurt in yesterday’s gale force winds.  In hindsight, we maybe should have taken a safety/rest…

Today’s test was wind.  Constant 35-50+  mph headwinds had us bent over, pushing hard on poles, and sometimes doing a quick about-face to withstand the strongest gusts.  It never let up for more than a few seconds for an entire 6 hours of trekking, sometimes pushing us a few feet to the side, making us…

Slipping out of a 12-bunk-bed dorm room at 6am without a light is a fine art, but with minimal rustling we can be on the road under the stars for an hour before the gentle blue awakening in the east behind us starts to chase the stars away.  Slowly the shaggy world shakes itself from…

The new ankle brace and effective cream have me feeling positive and strong as we leave town through the medieval “Saint Nicholas Gate.” To be safe, Sarah’s made me agree to just a 10km walk today, and to send my big backpack ahead with the “donkey” transport company that shuffles packs between hostels for just…

“What are you, a mountain goat?” asks Shelley as I bound ahead up the rocky slope to capture a picture of our fellow pilgrims on one of the steepest and most dangerous part of the pass over the Pyrenees Mountains.  Not sure if she’s impressed or exasperated, I answer honestly “This is PLAY!” The first…

A professional trumpeter, a Catholic marriage counselor and a physiotherapist start hiking and get lost at the first intersection…  It’s not the beginning of a joke; it’s the beginning of our five-week adventure hiking the Camino Francés to Santiago (Spain).  Martin Sheen’s movie “The Way” promised us a quick quirky family, each with a burden…