Bill and Diane hit the trail once again!

Before Diane and I married, we committed to each other to live a life of adventure.  Our theme song at that time was Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run”.  More specifically, there is a line or two that goes: “will you walk with me out on the wire? Baby, we were born to run.” Diane actually had those lines engraved on Bill’s wedding ring.  Bill can no longer read them (even with reading glasses).

When we purchased our 43′ catamaran to sail across the horizon, we named her “Wirewalker”, as we viewed the ship as our vehicle to the next adventure.

Today, we depart for France/Spain and continue the wirewalking adventure in “Camino de Wirewalker”.

In the modern mindset, the Camino is a long walk with many purposes. Some walk for religious reasons, some for health, some for entertainment. For Diane and I, it’s probably a mix of all three.

It didn’t start out that way.  To give credit where credit is due, I’ve used the description of the Pilgrimage, whole cloth, from: http://www.americanpilgrims.com/camino/history.html . I provide this only as background to the readers of this site and would commend people to the website above for a more complete description:

THE CAMINO IN HISTORY: El Camino de Santiago, in English “The Way of Saint James,” is the pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, where legend has it that the remains of Jesus’s apostle Saint James the Elder lie. The Camino has existed as a Christian pilgrimage for well over 1,000 years, and there is evidence of a pre-Christian route as well. Throughout the medieval period it was one of the three most important Christian pilgrimages undertaken. Indeed, it was only these pilgrimages—to Jerusalem, to Rome, and to Santiago de Compostela—which could result in a plenary indulgence, which frees a person from the penance due for sins.

Christian legend has it that when the Apostles divided the known world into missionary zones, the Iberian peninsula fell to James. Seventh and eighth century documents suggest that he spent a number of years preaching there before returning to Jerusalem, where in the year 44 AD he was beheaded by Herod Agrippa I. After his martyrdom, popular belief relates that his followers carried his body to the coast and put it into a stone boat, which was guided by angels and carried by the wind beyond the Pillars of Hercules (the Strait of Gibraltar) to land near Finisterre, at Padrón, in northern Spain. The local Queen, Lupa, provided the team of oxen used to draw the body from Padrón to the site of a marble tomb which she had also provided. Saint James was believed to have been buried there with two of his disciples. And there the body lay, forgotten until the 9th century.

Early in that century, Pelagius, a hermit living in that part of Galicia, had a vision in which he saw a star or a field of stars that led him to what proved to be an ancient tomb containing three bodies. He immediately reported this to the local bishop, Theodomir, who declared the remains to be those of Santiago and two of his followers and who in turn reported the find to the King of Asturias, Alphonso II, who forthwith declared Santiago to be the patron saint of Spain, or of what would eventually be Spain. That would come later. A small village named Campus de Ia Stella (Field of Stars) and a monastery were established on the site. (Or possibly the Roman word for cemetery, “componere”: to bury, is the source.) In any event, news of the discovery spread like wildfire and a trickle of pilgrims began to arrive. Miracles came to be attributed to the site, and the miracles encouraged pilgrimage and pilgrimage elicited more miracles. This was all greatly encouraged by the powerful Archbishop Gelmirez of Galicia and the cathedral authorities, who were anxious to promote Santiago as a pilgrimage destination, as well as by the monks of the Abbey of Cluny in France who were anxious to support the Spanish Church in its struggle against the Moors on the Peninsula.

Okay, I’m working this just minutes before the car arrives to take us to the airport, so if it seems incomplete … it is.

Gear:  This is what Bill is taking. Diane’s equipment is similar. Please note that this equipment list reflects too much time in planning!  It could be done in a much simpler fashion, but that doesn’t seem to be Bill’s (or Diane’s) nature!

Let’s start with shoes: The pair in the upper left are running shoes (yes, we still plan on running even though we’re walking 15 miles/day).  They are Nike Lunar Glides and combine light weight and moderate support. The pair on the upper right are Brooks Cascadia’s. They are a well recognized as a good pair of trail running shoes often used for extended hiking.  The flipflops in the front-middle are Target, $1.99 sandals. And very well used!  Perfect to be low weight and useable for the shower, etc.

Now we’re on to the extensive wardrobe. Upper right is a long sleeved dress shirt … sort of. Upper middle is hiking shorts, upper left is a pair of running shorts. Yes, we really do think we’re going to run.  Bottom row includes 1 long sleeved tee shirt, 3 performance tee shirts, and 3 wash and wear underwear. That’s it for standard clothes.

Warmth comes next. We’re hiking at the beginning of Fall so we expect to see cooler temperatures and a good bit of rain. Upper left is a pair of light weight rain pants, gaiters, down jacket, and rain proof wind breaker.  Lower row are smart wool socks (easy wash and dry), icebreaker 260 sweater, balaclava, and gloves. These should hold up through freezing conditions.

Now, the first aid. Band aids, mole skin and ibuprofen top the list here.

How about the frivolous? Hard to see, but we have a stove, a pot for boiling water, and enough Starbucks Via to fuel a nuclear power plant. We just don’t want to be”caught out” without our early morning caffeine fix!

Personal stuff: razors, toothbrush and paste, etc. Also, 2 spare reading glasses because, hey, we’ve already established that Bill can’t read so good without glasses.

Electronics:one led headlamp, an led lamp, 1 Power Monkey charger, cords, running watch, electrical adapters for Spain, etc.

Still to be shown are the sleeping bag (possibly useful), bivy (very useful), walking poles, and backpack.

We’re on our way!

We should probably note that almost all pilgrims we have met do not take a day of preparation. Just about everyone we met yesterday left this morning. That, even though it was raining a good deal. When you get here and sense the anticipation of the journey, you understand the desire to start now, not later.

We are not in a rush. We took a day of preparation … and the weather is supposed to be much better tomorrow.

One of the requirements of the pilgrimage is to check in at the Peregrino office and receive your first stamp. The office is always crowded! Many, many pilgrims. They are an equal mix of twenty-somethings and retired folks (like us).

Next, we searched for gas for our backpacking stove (remember out 80+ packets of Starbucks Via?  We don’t want to be caught out! )

From there we explored where the trail begins. If you saw “The Way”, you’ll remember the first thing Martin Sheen did on starting his journey was go the wrong way! We at least have that one covered!

Here is a photo of the river Nive as seen looking or our hotel room window. It is beautiful here.

Well, tomorrow we begin!