HikeAcrossSpain

Day 34  Santiago to Negreira Miles today:  13.5 Elevation gain:  1313’ Descent:  1611’ Walking miles:  406.6 Total Camino miles:  521.4 Moving speed:  2.7 mph Live your life by a compass, not a clock.                Steven Covey The Camino de Santiago is finished and today we start the Camino Finisterre, which goes from Santiago west to the town of Finisterre on the coast and then north up to Muxia. This is a short Camino, only about 75 miles in length and we will do it in 5 days. The forecast is not looking great....it looks like some heavy rains starting tomorrow, but we are hoping for mostly nighttime rains and cloudy days...we shall see. Our hike today is wonderful, just like the Camino of past weeks before we reached Sarria. The number of walkers is nice and small and the terrain is gorgeous. The smaller number of pilgrims is like going back in the past to our early Camino da...

Day 33  Rest Day in Santiago De Compestela Life was made for good friends and great adventure” – Proverb Today was a relaxing and great day sightseeing, eating, and just plain enjoying Santiago. It seems much larger than its 95,000 population. We began the day by standing in line for about an hour at the Pilgrim Office to receive our official “Credential” certifying that we had walked at least the last 100km of the Camino de Santiago. Blaze, Chum, and I walked 800 kilometers from France to Santiago.  Blaze may have set the record for the most sellos or stamps collected by any pilgrim in history. He managed to fill 3 books of “passport” stamps. We enjoyed the lush vegetation of Alameda Park, strolled thru old town, and revisited the cathedral plaza where we had our picture taken at “kilometer cero”, the zero kilometer mark of the Camino, the official end point of the Camino de Santiago (as well as several other Caminos that all end at the same place...

Day 32  Rua to Santiago de Compostela Miles today:  14.2 Elevation gain:  935’ Descent:  1005’ Walking miles:  393.1 Total Camino miles: 506.9 Travel far enough, you meet yourself – David Mitchell Today we completed the “full” Camino. On April 3rd we started walking west from St Jean France and today we  walked into the plaza at the Santiago Cathedral in Spain in mid afternoon. Blaze, Chum, and I have traveled for 32 days without utilizing any kind of motorized transportation and have covered 508 miles. Walking was 393 miles along with 115 miles of biking. We climbed 34,000 feet in elevation and descended almost the same amount. That is about six and a half miles straight up...and down! We endured countless PUD’s. PUD’s are “pointless ups and downs”. It often seemed that the Camino went up a hill and then back down for no logical reason when it might have made more sense to follow the valley or to contour around the hill. Such is...

Day 31  Arzua to Rua Miles today:  11.7 Elevation Gain:  762’ Descent:  1117’ Walking miles: 378.9 Total Camino miles:  492.7 Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport – Unknown Throughout Spain we have noticed what we consider to be grotesquely pruned trees in most villages, towns, and cities. To us it appears to be a form of “tree abuse”. We did some research on this bizarre practice and learned it is done throughout Europe and today is done primarily on a tree called the English Plane Tree. Mostly we have seen it in its winter form when it is severely pruned and not leafed out yet. Supposedly these trees are more attractive once the new growth leafs out. The following is a bit about pollarding along with some photos of the trees. The ultimate pollard success appears to be to get nearby trees to actually fuse branches with one another, such as across a street. Attractive or t...

Day 30  Melide to Arzua Miles today:  9.4 Elevation gain:  846’ Descent:  1070’ Walking miles:  367.2 Total Camino miles:  481.7 Fill your life with adventures, not things. Have stories to tell not stuff to show – Anonymous It has been 30 days since we started our adventure from St Jean, France. That includes 24 days of walking, 4 days of biking, and two rest days. What an adventure so far! The time has passed quickly, the memories are many; yet some things are just a blur. The passage of time and reviewing our photos will help sort out many of the blurs...we hope! Today begins with a stroll through the streets of Melide (pop 7000 and declining, as are most rural villages and towns in Spain—the youth are moving to the cities and the rural population is steadily declining). We soon leave the city streets and enter into lush farmland interspersed with dense forests of eucalyptus, oak, and chestnut trees. An hour or so into ...

Day 29  Palas de Rei to Melide Miles today:  9.7 Elevation gain:  711’ Descent:  1098’ Walking miles:  357.8 Total Camino miles:  472.3 Moving speed:  2.5 mph Make no small plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood.                Daniel Burnham 1907 Today is Labor Day in Spain. This is a major holiday and it appears that the schools have the entire week off. Good for the kids but not so good for us! This was a “slacker” day for the five of us. Our walk today is the shortest of our entire Camino thus far. Therefore we sleep in a bit, have a later breakfast, and set out from town at about 9 am after a visit to the local church. To our surprise the square around the local church is packed with people. A couple of hundred teenagers gather, wearing backpacks and trekking poles, full of excitement. Clearly they plan to hike with us today. As we begin our walk, the crowds of teenage...

Day 28  Portomarin to Palas de Rei Miles today:  15.9 Elevation gain: 1581’ Descent:  965’ Walking miles: 348.1 Total Camino miles:  462.6 He who would travel happily must travel light – Antoine de St. Exupery This second day pilgrim is walking with one shoe untied, talking on his cell phone, smoking a cigarette, and carrying an absolutely huge backpack. He will not make it to Santiago! This was an easy hiking day. Not too much uphill nor too much downhill, and the path was mostly dirt or gravel and thus easy on the feet. The five of us get an early and fast start. It is colder than anticipated at first, so our pace is brisk to match the temperature and to try to stay warm. An initial step climb warms us quickly as we walk in the fog and clouds. It will remain foggy for most of the morning. From the beginning we are surrounded by other pilgrims. Blaze, Chum, and I are having a hard time accepting this new Camino reality. No l...