Hiking El Camino de Santiago for Cystic Fibrosis: September 2012

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Day 29 - Sarria to PortoMarin - 23km

To err is human, to forgive, divine. - Alexander Pope

The last few days have been a walk in the park. The reason why is conditions are perfect ... weather in the 60's, a little uphill but mostly gradual downhill, soft terrain and incredible views.

As advertised, many new pilgrims have joined The Camino because Sarria is roughly 100 kilometers from Santiago and that's the minimum ground you must cover to earn your certificate. The Camino Frances, which is what we are doing, is 789.1 kilometers or 500 miles. We don't mind the newbies because they are fun to talk to and they ask for advice.

This afternoon in PortoMarin was special as we all gathered in the sun near the church and we know our journey is near the end ... Kelly, Lola, Patricia, Roger, Steven, Paul, Jesse, Jennifer, Fabiola, Nicolo, Kathy, Sandy and many more. We have been together for weeks now and there's a definite bond for a lifetime.

Life is short, but you can make your days long if you live in the moment!

Steve and Sue

Gray beard, no gray hair

Sue is always ready to go

Horse guiding us

So cute!

Santiago guiding us

Our friends from the US

Miss Italy (Jennifer) and Fabio

We love Jesse

Entrance

Never a blister!

Las Cruces

We love this chapel

German Shepherds always guarding

Love Sue!

The Camino

Listen closely - totally inappropriate

Take a look

Portomarin - so perfect

Our friends

Day 28: Triacastella to Sarria - 21km

From my Mom:

Started out late again this morning as we only had about 12 miles to walk. Easy peasy as we've come to say. I'm running out of adjectives for incredibly beautiful, but that's what it was again today. There's a big group of us who tend to meet up on the trail for morning cafe con leche or a snack. The last few days there's been discussion about our mixed emotions with finishing our pilgrimage. We are all very excited, but also starting to get sad about saying good-bye to so many wonderful people. We really all do share an incredible bond out here that is unique to the Camino.

When we started in the Galicia Region we didn't have an idea that we would be passing through so much cow country. Although the smell is intense at times, we still love to hear the cow bells and visit with them. They're so cute! Today we stopped and talked with Anne and two friends named Will and Henry and we all just enjoyed the cows. Can you imagine doing that?

We arrived in Sarria which is the starting place for many pilgrims. If you hike from here to Santiago you receive the same certificate we do. It's a true testament to the fact that the Camino is only about you and not what anyone else does. Steve and I are both a little competitive (Steve far more than I) but you have to let that go out here as there should be nothing competitive about your journey. I think this is why the same certificate is given. It's an internal feeling of accomplishment and it should only matter to you...a tough concept at times.

We have already met many new pilgrims who will start their journey tomorrow and we puffed out our chests and said, well we've already finished 440 miles! Just kidding! We wished them all the best and said, Buen Camino!

One of my favorite Spanish terms is Valle Valle (pronounced volley volley). I love it! It means OK OK. So instead of saying Si, you can say Valle Valle.

Steve's been a real trooper about his shin. I know how painful it is, but I was able to take ibuprofen and work through it. Actually I was told by a friend out here that I took way too much, but hey, it worked!! He's icing it and is taking every drug he possibly can and it seems to be working! We will double up one day and hope to be in Santiago on Weds.

Had a delicious dinner with new friends at an Italian restaurant....all home made fresh ...what a treat. Great time meeting Frank, Christian, Suborgh, and Iris. Nice, easy day tomorrow, too. Only 14 miles!

Our best to all,
S&S

Chapel 1km out of town

Beautiful start to our hike

Huge Camino shell

Incredible views

Old lady on her way to pick potatoes

Our friends from England

Heading out for tonight

Sarria is our home for the evening

Flecha continues to guide us

Sue liked this

Sarria in the background

Dinner with four friends

Technical hiking skills

Sue without hiking poles

Day 27: O'Cebreiro to Triacastela - 21.3K

From my Dad:

Lighting a candle for everyone back home

We slept in until 7:30 ... incredible. Went down for breakfast and it was toast ... hah hah hah. Sue and I dilly dallied all day as it was only 13 miles and mostly downhill. We stopped in almost every village for this and that but the best part was meeting so many new people ... we never tire of it.

We dropped down about 2,000 feet and that's tough on the body ... so much easier to ascend than descend.

I had some alone time on the downhill today (Sue is faster) and what's interesting as when I hike alone I think about things other than the moment. When I hike with Sue we are in the moment ... weather, maps, Camino, views, hiking poles, food, etc. We've been hiking in the moment for 26 days. We actually for the first time today talked about the fact of only 5 more hiking days remain. We both didn't want to talk about it very long as we still love life on The Camino!

We came into town through a myriad of cow dung farms and the smell at first permeated the town. We thought the town might be a bummer but all ended up great. We had dinner with Lola, Patricia and sister Theresa. Roger came by and told us he had just had a bubble bath ... we all chuckled. We spent time with Anne and she told Sue she really helped her yesterday during a private conversation (Camino moment). Kelly stopped by to say hi. The Italy group checked in about my shin (I'm hanging in there). We added up the number of Camino friends we have out here and it's over 50.

I read this at mass tonight ... The Pilgrimage to Santiago is:

A worldwide spiritual reality
A path of light
A path for seeking and finding
A path of peace and brotherhood
A path of life and hope
A journey of oneness where none are strangers and all are as brothers
A meeting point for brothers regardless of race or culture

Sometimes I feel like we are living a dream!

Buen Camino

Esteban y Susana

Departing into Galecia

Short for Compostela

All bundled up ... and here's Sue ...

Gym shorts, tank top, and long sleeve

Church of St. Steven

Love these guys

Santiago

St. John's

Home for tonight

Experience the culture ... Octopus

For #1 and #2

Lunch

Sister Theresa with Sue and Pat

Iglesia Santiago

Old lady working in the garden

Taking care of hot spots

Guarding the village

Sue is funny

Typical village

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Day 26: Villafranca to O'Cebreiro - 36.1km

From my Mom:

We love the views

Just when we thought the Camino couldn't get any better, we had the hike of a lifetime today. Rumors had swirled throughout the Peregrino network that today's hike to the top of O'Cebreiro was really tough. So most people divided it up into two sections. But, of course, not us. We will tackle this climb up to approximately 5,000 feet no problema. There are two ways to start out. Steep climb out of Villa Franca or flat on the road. We feel so blessed to have chosen the steep climb because as you'll see in the pictures, the views were phenomenal!! We hiked for about an hour then met a new friend from Ireland. Ann hiked with us for awhile and when we came down into town we ran into Leo and Roger whom we hadn't seen in days. Great to have breakfast with them and catch up. We all went off on our own and hiked just breathtaking trails. Ann from Ireland called the day, Immense! That about said it. When we were climbing the last 5km we felt like we were in heaven. Literally at the top of the world. As we were coming into O'Cebreiro, we saw a group of elderly women, obviously on a bus tour of some kind. They got so excited to see real live peregrinos coming off the trail that I thought they might want our autographs. So cute. One of their leaders spoke English and when they heard we had been hiking 26 days and only had about 95 miles left I was afraid what might happen next. They were all saying Buen Camino and wishing us good luck. A true Camino moment. Like everyone else out here, they treated us like instant celebrities when they heard we were from San Francisco Bay Area.

This is a town of 50 people so I would imagine without the peregrinos and tourists, it's a pretty quiet spot. We are staying in a very cute Casa Rural (a great way to go) and after showers will go join the other peregrinos for a beer or possibly a glass of wine. I told Steve I'm going to write a book entitled, "Eating and Drinking Your Way through the Camino". When Ann heard that, she said, Well I have heard it called "The Vino Camino." Perfect title!!

We crossed into our final region today..that of Galicia. Known for its lush landscape and beauty it can be very wet here. However, today is absolutely perfect with blue skies and no rain in the foreseeable future. We really can't believe it as so far we have only had a day and a half of rain our entire Camino. God has been good to us! We should enter Santiago on Weds. to beautiful sunshine....God willing!

We were walking around this very little village and I asked one of the shopkeepers if there was a mass tonight. She said yes at siete. Perfect as it was 6:54. We went into a lovely little church and Father said a mass especially for the pilgrims. We also got a special blessing. If you can be over blessed, we are. Yet, every time it is very touching.

Earlier today we also passed a chapel that happened to be open. I have decided that the small chapels in the little towns are my favorite. Although all of the Cathedrals are magnificent, there is something memorable about the Chapels. We lit candles for all of our friends and family.

After mass we decided to have dinner where we are staying and when we walked in we saw Sandy and Cathy from Washington state and enjoyed a delicious peregrino dinner with them. I'm going to have to hire a cook when we get home as I've never had someone serve me for so many days in a row!!

We hiked about 20 miles today over 8 hours, so we are a little tired and ready for bed. We only have about 13 miles tomorrow so if we can, we hope to sleep until 7!!

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Today was an incredibly magical day!!