You know it's hot ....
- When you tried to drink and walk at the same time, and you just spilled your juice on your hands, and you don't want to give up any of your water to wash your hands but your hands are going to be sticky and you need to use your walking sticks.....
- When the cold drink you bought a few minutes ago is now hot
- When you start to wonder when the tips on your walking sticks are going melt to the rocks, and you start calculating the distance to the next town where there might be an outfitter who sells new tips (almost every town, BTW, and new tips are 1.50 euros)
- When you take your cell phone out of your pocket to check your directions, and it's almost too hot to touch
Sat August 24, 2019
Pamplona to Puente la Reina
38,000 steps
Today's walk began in Pamplona, in a cool comfortable morning. I walked through the lovely and green university campus.
It was uphill for 10 km from there. Really. Uphill. 45 degree incline of smooth round rocks. What Spanish Einstein came up with the idea of lining the hills with loose, smooth, round rocks??
The temperature quickly rose as we also rose - we gained 350m in altitude over those 10 km. It was thrilling to see Pamplona drop away further and further into the distance, as we stopped at every tiny bit of shade to let our heart rates drop back down. Going quickly was not an option. That 10 km took 4 hours.
The highest point today was also the midway point. There is a lovely art installation depicting pilgrims over time. Also an official van of people who can offer any necessary assistance, and who sell cold drinks. Oh, yes please.
There are people who train on this route. Bikers, and runners. On my way up, a young man ran past me. He was wearing only spandex shorts, a chest heart rate monitor and running shoes. Barely breathing hard. Zero body fat. Passed me in a blur. Just as I was about to begin my descent, another pilgrim, a man perhaps 30 years old, came up behind me to begin his descent, too. Before taking our first step down, we see the runner (the one who passed me on the way up) running up towards us. We stood aside to let him pass, and let his wake cool us. The pilgrim turned to me and said "That's just not fair". We both laughed, and then began to pick our way through the rocky path down.
I had a laugh yesterday, too. Walking around a bend in the road, I came upon a cafe loaded with pilgrims. Walking sticks and backpacks were everywhere.
There was one seat in the shade, at a table occupied by a young Japanese woman. I asked if I could join her, and she agreed. Chihiro has just left her job in Japan, and was walking to give herself time to think about what to do next. Her job was a teacher, in a school for people who want to be music and movie stars. I asked her if the students of that school had much success. Her reply was "Not really. It's a very difficult business to get into". Another pilgrim came into the cafe and put his pack down at a nearby table. He said to us "please watch my pack, I'm going into the toilet". We said ok. After he left, we started to laugh. Everyone has their own pack to carry. Who is going to pick up his and carry it, too?? Who wants his dirty laundry? We have enough of our own! We giggled for a few minutes. We looked around and saw packs abandoned everywhere, the owners gone to cool their feet in the stream or take some pictures. We just found it so humerous. By the time the man returned, we had regained our composure, and we accepted his thanks for safeguarding his things. I can't be too hard on him. After all, he was only following the ancient adage: "Trust in the Lord but tether your camel".
For all the hundreds of thousands of people who have walked this trail, the path can at times be very narrow - not even wide enough for a decent stride width and both walking sticks. It got me thinking. Life runs on some pretty narrow paths, too. We can only survive when our blood pH falls within a very small range of values. Same with blood oxygen, and core temperature. Our bodies exist on some very narrow paths.
If timed correctly according to the seasons, it would be possible to sustain oneself with food foraged along the way.
One could start with a salad of blueberries and blackberries.
Entree could be a snared rabbit or a fish caught in the river, stewed with stinging nettles and flavoured with wild dill and wild caraway, enriched with these snails, who don't mind sleeping away the day in full sun, stuck at eye-level to the stems of herbs - like low hanging fruit.
The meal could be finished with rosehip tea, and then chicory roots could be roasted in the ashes of the fire, for making breakfast "coffee". As it is said: "The Camino Provides".
I began the 10 km descent at 12:30 pm. A 10 km walk at home takes me under two hours. I didn't finish today until almost 5:00. Heat, rocks and downhills, man. They'll do their worst to you. Ok, I'll confess. Like any medieval pilgrim, I did stop at a wayside inn at about 4:30 pm to quaff an ale. But that didn't take more than 15 minutes.
I arrived at the hotel covered in dust, dirt, sweat and salt. It was 34 degrees. I guess that's what you call a successful day on the Camino!
- When you tried to drink and walk at the same time, and you just spilled your juice on your hands, and you don't want to give up any of your water to wash your hands but your hands are going to be sticky and you need to use your walking sticks.....
- When the cold drink you bought a few minutes ago is now hot
- When you start to wonder when the tips on your walking sticks are going melt to the rocks, and you start calculating the distance to the next town where there might be an outfitter who sells new tips (almost every town, BTW, and new tips are 1.50 euros)
- When you take your cell phone out of your pocket to check your directions, and it's almost too hot to touch
Sat August 24, 2019
Pamplona to Puente la Reina
38,000 steps
Today's walk began in Pamplona, in a cool comfortable morning. I walked through the lovely and green university campus.
It was uphill for 10 km from there. Really. Uphill. 45 degree incline of smooth round rocks. What Spanish Einstein came up with the idea of lining the hills with loose, smooth, round rocks??
The temperature quickly rose as we also rose - we gained 350m in altitude over those 10 km. It was thrilling to see Pamplona drop away further and further into the distance, as we stopped at every tiny bit of shade to let our heart rates drop back down. Going quickly was not an option. That 10 km took 4 hours.
Midday at the Oasis
The highest point today was also the midway point. There is a lovely art installation depicting pilgrims over time. Also an official van of people who can offer any necessary assistance, and who sell cold drinks. Oh, yes please.
There are people who train on this route. Bikers, and runners. On my way up, a young man ran past me. He was wearing only spandex shorts, a chest heart rate monitor and running shoes. Barely breathing hard. Zero body fat. Passed me in a blur. Just as I was about to begin my descent, another pilgrim, a man perhaps 30 years old, came up behind me to begin his descent, too. Before taking our first step down, we see the runner (the one who passed me on the way up) running up towards us. We stood aside to let him pass, and let his wake cool us. The pilgrim turned to me and said "That's just not fair". We both laughed, and then began to pick our way through the rocky path down.
I had a laugh yesterday, too. Walking around a bend in the road, I came upon a cafe loaded with pilgrims. Walking sticks and backpacks were everywhere.
There was one seat in the shade, at a table occupied by a young Japanese woman. I asked if I could join her, and she agreed. Chihiro has just left her job in Japan, and was walking to give herself time to think about what to do next. Her job was a teacher, in a school for people who want to be music and movie stars. I asked her if the students of that school had much success. Her reply was "Not really. It's a very difficult business to get into". Another pilgrim came into the cafe and put his pack down at a nearby table. He said to us "please watch my pack, I'm going into the toilet". We said ok. After he left, we started to laugh. Everyone has their own pack to carry. Who is going to pick up his and carry it, too?? Who wants his dirty laundry? We have enough of our own! We giggled for a few minutes. We looked around and saw packs abandoned everywhere, the owners gone to cool their feet in the stream or take some pictures. We just found it so humerous. By the time the man returned, we had regained our composure, and we accepted his thanks for safeguarding his things. I can't be too hard on him. After all, he was only following the ancient adage: "Trust in the Lord but tether your camel".
✣ ✣ ✣ ✣
For all the hundreds of thousands of people who have walked this trail, the path can at times be very narrow - not even wide enough for a decent stride width and both walking sticks. It got me thinking. Life runs on some pretty narrow paths, too. We can only survive when our blood pH falls within a very small range of values. Same with blood oxygen, and core temperature. Our bodies exist on some very narrow paths.
✣ ✣ ✣ ✣
As I passed through this verymedieval
arch, I began to think about those medieval pilgrims.
If timed correctly according to the seasons, it would be possible to sustain oneself with food foraged along the way.
One could start with a salad of blueberries and blackberries.
Entree could be a snared rabbit or a fish caught in the river, stewed with stinging nettles and flavoured with wild dill and wild caraway, enriched with these snails, who don't mind sleeping away the day in full sun, stuck at eye-level to the stems of herbs - like low hanging fruit.
The meal could be finished with rosehip tea, and then chicory roots could be roasted in the ashes of the fire, for making breakfast "coffee". As it is said: "The Camino Provides".
I began the 10 km descent at 12:30 pm. A 10 km walk at home takes me under two hours. I didn't finish today until almost 5:00. Heat, rocks and downhills, man. They'll do their worst to you. Ok, I'll confess. Like any medieval pilgrim, I did stop at a wayside inn at about 4:30 pm to quaff an ale. But that didn't take more than 15 minutes.
I arrived at the hotel covered in dust, dirt, sweat and salt. It was 34 degrees. I guess that's what you call a successful day on the Camino!
Did you find the need to change your socks during the day? That's a suggestion I heard, but maybe they didn't buy their socks at MEC ike you did.
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