el peregringo

Today’s walk was tough by all accounts. It rained a great deal more than yesterday, which isn’t a problem unto itself, but my goodness was the Camino in terrible shape. The ascents and descents were essentially small streams and when water wasn’t actually running, the mud was horrible. The mud in this part of Navarra is thick, clayey and ultimately, very heavy–adding half a kilo to the weight of each boot. In places there was simply no avoiding 6 to 8 inch deep mud and/or water. Kind of a let-down as I looked forward to the relatively level terrain compared to yesterday’s three major climbs.

Because it rained so much, I only pulled out the camera once and got very few shots. The photos I did get were all in the same place. It stopped raining, so I paused, took off my poncho and packed it, shot these 4 images, put my backpack back on…and it started pouring again so I had to pull the poncho out again.

Since we will be living here in Pamplona for the year, I’ll have a chance to get back to photograph the medieval bridge crossing the river into the city, and the spectacular climb up the city walls and through the “French Gate” into the oldest part of the city. The gate is complete with a wooden drawbridge, that astonishingly, forms part of a road still used by cars! As I crossed it a minivan crossed it in the opposite direction!

I’m looking forward to a couple of days back home in Pamplona so I can do something about this poncho. It was a loan from a neighbor. It’s a heavy green plastic with a tight neck opening and tight hood. It does cover my backpack and keep that dry, but since it’s plastic, and I am such an old fat guy these days, that I sweat so much when wearing it that I end up just as wet as if I didn’t wear the poncho at all. I hope to get to a sporting goods supply shop to look for a goretex style poncho that will transpire some of my internally generated moisture.

What I’ve learned in Two Days…

OK, so now I have two long days of experience (for what that’s worth). These first two days have really been a trial run of my equipment (and by equipment I’m mostly referring to my knees, feet, and back…but also to the hiking gear). All the many guides you’ll find about the Camino tell you to travel as lightly as you can. OK, I feel pretty stupid carrying a camera, my laptop and charger, an iPod shuffle, a cell phone, a mini-disc recorder, and spare discs. But given that I plan to generate this blog as I go, leaving that gear behind isn’t really an option. What I find amazing, is that a great many of the pilgrims I’ve encountered are carrying at least twice what I am carrying in terms of the size of their backpacks. I’m carrying just my camera/laptop backpack re-purposed to carry some clothes. What the heck are these other people carrying with them? OK, on to my day two tips:

• forget the umbrella (Ana suggested it was a good idea, and it was recommended in some of the online sites I’ve read, but so far, it’s been completely useless going through wooded areas. Furthermore, in rain, I need to have the poncho covering the backpack anyway…)
• Termalgin (paracetamal) is a worthless analgesic. Apparently it’s pretty common here in Spain, but ibuprofen works much better for sore legs, backs and feet.
• get a poncho that breathes. Sweating to death underneath plastic defeats the purpose and at least this time of year, when removing the poncho when it stops raining and you’ll freeze to death as you dry out.
• LEAVE EARLY EVERY DAY This is common sense, but according to the people at the pilgrim office in Roncesvalles, 200 pilgrims begin the Camino each day from Roncesvalles alone. There are very few villages with albergues large enough to handle that load. Had I not gotten the last room in the Hostería de Zubiri, and that only because a reservation missed the 6pm arrival deadline, I would have had to sleep on the street somewhere (as many pilgrims did).

Where will I go from here?

So the first two days were a training run. My plan, subject to change of course, is to photograph as much as I can, weather permitting, and to interview other pilgrims. As I mentioned above, I’m carrying a mini-disc recorder and plan to produce a podcast of those interviews and of my walking commentary. Unfortunately I have to recapture the audio in real time, and that doesn’t lend itself to on-the-road production, but we’ll see how it goes. I really hope to get at least the recordings I’ve made so far online before I depart on Sunday to continue the Camino (it was so good to see my girls today that it will be hard to leave them again. Amalia watched from the window today and yelled “Daddy” at the top of her lungs as soon as she saw me…).

I don’t know how much of my own “spiritual” journey I plan to share here. Obviously when walking alone 5-6 hours a day over the course of 5-6 weeks, I’ll have lots of time to think and reflect. Just how profound that reflection becomes I can’t even begin to imagine. Pain will play a roll I’m sure, as it has with pilgrims for a thousand years. Stay tuned…