Camino de Santiago Days 16/17/18/19/20/21/22/23/24/25/26/27/28/29 Calzadilla de Los Hermanillos to Santiago de Compostella - 227.35 miles
Day 16 - Calzadilla de Los Hermanillos to Leon 26.7 miles
Day 17 - Leon to Villarreal de Mazarife 13.75 miles
Day 18 - Mazarife to Astorga 19.4 miles
Day 19 - Astorga to Foncebadon 16.9 miles
Day 20 - Foncebadon to Ponferrada 17.5 miles
Day 21 - Ponferrada to Villafranca del Bierzo 14.5 miles
Day 22 - Villafranca to La Faba 15.5 miles
Day 23 - La Faba to Triacastela 16.4 miles
Day 24 - Triacastela to Barbadelo 17.75 miles
Day 25 - Barbadelo to Hospital de la Cruz 18.4 miles
Day 26 - Hospital to Milide 17.4 miles
Day 27 - Milide to Salceda 15.75 miles
Day 28 - Salceda to Monte Gozo 14.5 miles
Day 29 - Monte Gozo to Santiago de Compostella 2.9 miles
Total from St Jean Pied de Port - 493.4 miles walked
I arrived at the Cathedral of Saint James in Santiago de Compostella at 6:12 AM yesterday morning, July 23. I walked the final 3 miles into the city completely alone as I had planned. I just wanted the time alone to reflect on the journey. It has been an amazing experience. I have met many wonderful people and seen many amazing things. I am truly blessed to have been able to participate in this incredible journey. It is difficult to describe the feeling of reaching a destination after walking almost 500 miles over 29 days and 3 mountain ranges. Not to mention the 20 lbs pack. I'm just not gifted enough to put it into words. I hope the photographs I have taken will be able to do it justice. I am proud of the images I have taken and look forward to sharing them. A gallery exhibition of the images is scheduled for the USM campus during the spring semester.
I wish I could have written and shared more about the journey and my experience along the way but the days were long and exhausting. I hope you all enjoyed following what little progress I was able to post. It was encouraging to know that you were following along. Thank you.
It has been a fun year. I guess the only question now is "What's next?" I read this story before I left to come to Spain about a man who kayaked from Europe to Miami. That sounds fun.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Camino de Santiago days 11-15
Camino de Santiago -Day 11/12/13/14/15 - Burgos, Spain to Hermanillos - 87.15 miles
Day 11 - Burgos to Hontanas 19.7 miles
Day 12 - Hontanas to Boadilla 17.75 miles
Day 13 - Boadilla to Carrión de los Condes 16.4 miles
Day 14 - Carrión to Terradillos de Templarios 16.6 miles
Day 15 - Terradillos to Calzadilla de los Hermanillos 16.7 miles
Total from St Jean Pied de Port - 266.05 miles walked
I have made it past the halfway point.
What can I say about the last five days? The meseta definitely lives up to its reputation. I still have 2 more days before I am out of the meseta, although I'm contemplation making a big push tomorrow and getting it over with. I continue to meet very interesting people with a variety of motivations for doing this pilgrimage. One of note is a graphic design professor from Singapore. She is running the entire distance, averaging about a half marathon a day. Some days more, some less. She is collecting all her data and plans to create a visual representation of her camino with the data. We talked for a long time. We are both obviously interested in the same type of things with endurance sports and visual communication. She definitely got my wheels turning as to what I can do with all the data I have collected through triathlons and training.
Day 11 - Burgos to Hontanas 19.7 miles
Day 12 - Hontanas to Boadilla 17.75 miles
Day 13 - Boadilla to Carrión de los Condes 16.4 miles
Day 14 - Carrión to Terradillos de Templarios 16.6 miles
Day 15 - Terradillos to Calzadilla de los Hermanillos 16.7 miles
Total from St Jean Pied de Port - 266.05 miles walked
I have made it past the halfway point.
What can I say about the last five days? The meseta definitely lives up to its reputation. I still have 2 more days before I am out of the meseta, although I'm contemplation making a big push tomorrow and getting it over with. I continue to meet very interesting people with a variety of motivations for doing this pilgrimage. One of note is a graphic design professor from Singapore. She is running the entire distance, averaging about a half marathon a day. Some days more, some less. She is collecting all her data and plans to create a visual representation of her camino with the data. We talked for a long time. We are both obviously interested in the same type of things with endurance sports and visual communication. She definitely got my wheels turning as to what I can do with all the data I have collected through triathlons and training.
Friday, July 4, 2014
Camino days 6-10
Camino de Santiago -Day 6/7/8/9/10 - Viana, Spain to Burgos, Spain- 83.5 miles
Day 6 - Viana to Naverette 14.2 miles
Day 7 - Navarette to Cirueña 20.4 miles
Day 8 - Cirueña to Belorado 17.9 miles
Day 9 - Belorado to Atapuerca 18.9 miles
Day 10 - Atapuerca to Burgos 12.1 miles
It's been a great few days. I'm really settling into the walk and starting to get into a good routine. Impressions of Spain remain the same although I must add that the cathedral in Burgos is breathtaking. Very beautiful. I am no longer walking with John because he has a much stricter deadline than me and I have work to do. I'm still keeping a good pace though. It has rained the last 2 days but only enough to get me wet and not enough to dampen the spirits. I seem to be walking faster than most which is great because it affords me the opportunity to meet new people every day. Tomorrow I come to the meseta. From what I hear it is very flat and just fields after fields of the same scenery. Should be a great time to spend in thought and reflection.
Day 6 - Viana to Naverette 14.2 miles
Day 7 - Navarette to Cirueña 20.4 miles
Day 8 - Cirueña to Belorado 17.9 miles
Day 9 - Belorado to Atapuerca 18.9 miles
Day 10 - Atapuerca to Burgos 12.1 miles
It's been a great few days. I'm really settling into the walk and starting to get into a good routine. Impressions of Spain remain the same although I must add that the cathedral in Burgos is breathtaking. Very beautiful. I am no longer walking with John because he has a much stricter deadline than me and I have work to do. I'm still keeping a good pace though. It has rained the last 2 days but only enough to get me wet and not enough to dampen the spirits. I seem to be walking faster than most which is great because it affords me the opportunity to meet new people every day. Tomorrow I come to the meseta. From what I hear it is very flat and just fields after fields of the same scenery. Should be a great time to spend in thought and reflection.
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Camino - Days 3/4/5
Camino de Santiago -Day 3/4/5 - Arre, Spain to Viana, Spain - 55.9 miles
It's been a long three days. Walked through Pamplona on day 3. Great town. I really hope I'm able to come visit again. I continued to walk with John and we met lots of interesting people with all different reasons for doing the Camino. One of note I met on day 4. He is from Prague and his name is Joe. He said he is walking for his second time and this time with his girlfriend. He quietly pulled me to the side to tell me that he plans to ask her to marry him when they arrive in Santiago.
It's now the morning of day 6 and I made the discovery that I have lost my pilgrims credentials. This is a book of stamps from all the places I have stayed and shows where I started. It has the stamps of the first 5 places I stayed. I am going to try to check the restaurant where we ate last night to see if I left it there. If I can't find it I will just pick one up at the next town. It just sucks losing those first 5 stamps.
It's been a long three days. Walked through Pamplona on day 3. Great town. I really hope I'm able to come visit again. I continued to walk with John and we met lots of interesting people with all different reasons for doing the Camino. One of note I met on day 4. He is from Prague and his name is Joe. He said he is walking for his second time and this time with his girlfriend. He quietly pulled me to the side to tell me that he plans to ask her to marry him when they arrive in Santiago.
It's now the morning of day 6 and I made the discovery that I have lost my pilgrims credentials. This is a book of stamps from all the places I have stayed and shows where I started. It has the stamps of the first 5 places I stayed. I am going to try to check the restaurant where we ate last night to see if I left it there. If I can't find it I will just pick one up at the next town. It just sucks losing those first 5 stamps.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Camino days 1-2
I'm a bit behind but will get caught up soon. So far it's been 4 great, productive days. Here is a recap of the first 2days.
Camino de Santiago -Day1 - St Jean Pied de Port, France to Roncevalles, Spain - 15.6 miles
The first day was tough. It was 13 miles to the top of the Pyrenees. That's a hard hike to start the trip. The decent into Roncevalles wasn't any easier even though we were going down hill. In fact, it was probably more difficult. Very steep and my kegs were shot so it was tough to catch myself with every step. Sadly I do not have GPS data from the first day. About 2 miles from Roncevalles my watch battery died and lost all the data.
A few of the people I met on the first day were a father/son team from Canada that are here as a high school graduation gift for the son. Also I met a Korean girl when she noticed that I did not have the traditional pilgrims clam shell tied to my pack. She had an extra and insisted that I take one of hers.
I enjoyed the southern French countryside. It is in credibly beautiful with lots of rolling hills and thick green forests. The towns were ok and the people nice enough but now that I have spent a few days in Spain, the French can not compare.
Camino de Santiago -Day 2 - Roncevalles, Spain to Arre, Spain - 23.9 miles
Day 2 was the hardest so far but only because I made it so. A few miles outside of Roncevalles I met John, an army special forces officer. We struck up a conversation and just kept walking. He is on a tight deadline and convinced me to try to make it to Pamplona that day. That would be a total of 27 miles. That's a lot but I wasn't not going to do it once it was proposed. We ended up only making it to Arre which is on the outskirts of Pamplona. We stayed in an old monastery that was the oldest continuously running albergue on the pilgrimage.
We were walking pretty hard so I did not have a lot if interaction that day outside of my conversations with John. I was able to meet Peter, a priest from Poland.
I can not express enough how impressed I am with northern Spain. The landscape is nothing short of incredible but even more impressive are the towns and the people. Every town, and I do mean every town, now matter how big or small, is immaculately clean and manicured. The people are among the most helpful, nicest and friendly people I have ever encountered. This is not hyperbole and I am not easily impressed. It has been astounding.
Camino de Santiago -Day1 - St Jean Pied de Port, France to Roncevalles, Spain - 15.6 miles
The first day was tough. It was 13 miles to the top of the Pyrenees. That's a hard hike to start the trip. The decent into Roncevalles wasn't any easier even though we were going down hill. In fact, it was probably more difficult. Very steep and my kegs were shot so it was tough to catch myself with every step. Sadly I do not have GPS data from the first day. About 2 miles from Roncevalles my watch battery died and lost all the data.
A few of the people I met on the first day were a father/son team from Canada that are here as a high school graduation gift for the son. Also I met a Korean girl when she noticed that I did not have the traditional pilgrims clam shell tied to my pack. She had an extra and insisted that I take one of hers.
I enjoyed the southern French countryside. It is in credibly beautiful with lots of rolling hills and thick green forests. The towns were ok and the people nice enough but now that I have spent a few days in Spain, the French can not compare.
Camino de Santiago -Day 2 - Roncevalles, Spain to Arre, Spain - 23.9 miles
Day 2 was the hardest so far but only because I made it so. A few miles outside of Roncevalles I met John, an army special forces officer. We struck up a conversation and just kept walking. He is on a tight deadline and convinced me to try to make it to Pamplona that day. That would be a total of 27 miles. That's a lot but I wasn't not going to do it once it was proposed. We ended up only making it to Arre which is on the outskirts of Pamplona. We stayed in an old monastery that was the oldest continuously running albergue on the pilgrimage.
We were walking pretty hard so I did not have a lot if interaction that day outside of my conversations with John. I was able to meet Peter, a priest from Poland.
I can not express enough how impressed I am with northern Spain. The landscape is nothing short of incredible but even more impressive are the towns and the people. Every town, and I do mean every town, now matter how big or small, is immaculately clean and manicured. The people are among the most helpful, nicest and friendly people I have ever encountered. This is not hyperbole and I am not easily impressed. It has been astounding.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Buen Camino
Tomorrow, June 23, I will catch a plane out of New Orleans to begin my journey to Santiago de Compostella, Spain. I will be walking from St. Jean Pied de Port in the southern part of France just north of the Pyrenees, 490 miles to Santiago, Spain, the burial place of St. James. The purpose of this journey is varied, both personal and professional. First and foremost it is a creative research project to tell the story of the many incredible pilgrims who make this trek and why they choose to put themselves through such a massive undertaking. It is also something that I have wanted to experience for a number of years. It is a daunting task but I am excited to get started.
Here is a link to more info about the Camino de Santiago:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Way_of_St._James
This blog will allow those who are interested the ability to keep up with my progress as I make my way across Spain. I plan to post photos as well as the stories of the individuals I meet along the way. I will also share my gps daily so that anyone interested will be able to see where I walked each day.
I hope you all enjoy reading about and following my progress as much as I expect I will enjoy the journey.
Buen camino!
John Mark
Here is a link to more info about the Camino de Santiago:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Way_of_St._James
This blog will allow those who are interested the ability to keep up with my progress as I make my way across Spain. I plan to post photos as well as the stories of the individuals I meet along the way. I will also share my gps daily so that anyone interested will be able to see where I walked each day.
I hope you all enjoy reading about and following my progress as much as I expect I will enjoy the journey.
Buen camino!
John Mark
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