I wanted to introduce myself, this blog, and my hike across Northern Spain, May - June 2016. This blog is intended for family and friends to follow along as I hike and for all others thinking about doing a camino or happy to be an armchair pilgrim.
As an avid outdoors-woman, birder, and conservationist, I combine my love for environmental and natural history with my hiking and paddling trips. You can check out my main blog dedicated to the exploration of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the U.S. at http://naturalmidatlantic.blogspot.com
With this trip, however (clearly not in the Mid-Atlantic States!) I decided to start a separate blog for chronicling specifically the ecology, birds, environmental history, and adventure of hiking the Camino de Santiago and so that friends and family can follow along from home.
The Camino de Santiago Francés begins in the small valley village of St. Jean Pied du Port in the Pyrenees Mountains that lie on the border with Spain. I'll be starting there and walking 800km/497mi to the City of Santiago de Compostela. After spending some time with the St. James the Apostle in Santiago, I'll walk an additional 80km/50mi to the Atlantic at Muxia or Finesterre on the Atlantic Coast. I've always wanted to see the sun set on the Atlantic!
As an avid outdoors-woman, birder, and conservationist, I combine my love for environmental and natural history with my hiking and paddling trips. You can check out my main blog dedicated to the exploration of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the U.S. at http://naturalmidatlantic.blogspot.com
With this trip, however (clearly not in the Mid-Atlantic States!) I decided to start a separate blog for chronicling specifically the ecology, birds, environmental history, and adventure of hiking the Camino de Santiago and so that friends and family can follow along from home.
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| The Iberian Peninsula of Spain and Portugal. My route is in light blue from the Pyrenees to the Atlantic. |
The Camino de Santiago Francés begins in the small valley village of St. Jean Pied du Port in the Pyrenees Mountains that lie on the border with Spain. I'll be starting there and walking 800km/497mi to the City of Santiago de Compostela. After spending some time with the St. James the Apostle in Santiago, I'll walk an additional 80km/50mi to the Atlantic at Muxia or Finesterre on the Atlantic Coast. I've always wanted to see the sun set on the Atlantic!
Why am I doing this? I'm rewarding myself with a recovery hike for having survived a seven year journey on the road to completing my PhD. I'll be birding and soaking up the human and natural history along The Way (which is also the name of a good movie about the Camino de Santiago that you should watch) and sharing it with you as I go. I also plan to update my posts after my return since I know I'll be learning more than I can possibly write about on a small 7" tablet screen.
St. James The Apostle.
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| St. James The Apostle. |
I'll add some more posts before I begin my hike to describe the history and nature of the Camino de Santiago so that family and friends have some good background on where I'll be and what I might encounter. I can't wait to meet my new Camino family and introduce them to you. I'll take plenty of pictures and log lots of new birds to my life list. Check the Bird List in the navigation bar to keep up with that. I hope you subscribe!
