Day 3: Rochesvalles to Zubiri

After the steep descent into Rochesvalles pilgrims head towards the monastery for a night's stay in the thoroughly modern albergue. We were signed in, credentials stamped, and shown to our bunks. The showers were hot and long! Oh yay!

Pilgrims mill about waiting for Mass.

Those wishing to attend the Pilgrims Mass at the cathedral were directed to walk around the corner to the main street of the town at six. The service was moving. All pilgrims were invited to come forward and receive the blessing.

No pics allowed during mass, this was well before.

Most of us were exhausted and spent only a few minutes exploring after a pilgrim dinner. I met Dr. Kate Jenkins, director of the Institute of Pilgrim Studies at William and Mary while scarfing down fresh fish and salad. We hit it off right away and u was honored to have her so interested in my working landscapes research. We promised to find each other on the trail in the next few days. Back to the monastery and lights off at 9pm. I was surrounded by a symphony of snorers and got very little sleep. It seemed like I had just begun to sleep soundly when the Brothers came striding down the aisles of bunk beds, throwing open shuttered windows, singing loudly something in Latin. People groaned and moaned. It was pouring outside. So off we went at 6:30am into the deluge.

Trying to be upbeat in the rain, groups of pilgrims sing together. 

It was miserable. We had a very long walk to Zubiri of 14.5 miles. But what can you do? Keep singing. I couldn't stand the noise however and waited until the trail was quiet and continued through the Basque town of Burguete. People were opening their shutters and seeing me pass by their houses, called down "Santigoria! Santigoria!" (Basque for "On to Santiago!") I felt immediately better.

A shuttered window open in the rain and a woman calls out Santigoria!

I came out into beautiful farm country and came upon a farmer clapping for a laboring mare. I had studied up on the heritage breeds of Iberian ponies I might see and recognized his ponies as Asturcon, fleet little horses users for sheep herding. I tried out my Basque and inquired about the breed. The farmer clapped for me! Yay! He told me Basque, which I did not understand, all about the horses. With three big pushes, the little foal was free! I clapped too!

A group of wet pilgrims was gathering to watch and cheer for the newborn. The farmer was very happy we had stopped.

Asturcon herding horses.

The hike into Zubiri was long and wet but the hills and storm clouds added drama to an otherwise dreary day. I managed to stay alone for most of the walk, following the Camino markers, walking around flooded sections of trail, trying to ignore the blisters forming in my wet boots. Finally to Zubiri I stood shivering in the doorway of an albergue. It was 1:00 and I had slogged 14 miles in six hours. A blistering pace. Pun intended.

Day 2: Orisson to Rochesvalles

The was the hardest, happiest hike I've ever taken. Leaving the albergue early in the morning as the sun was just breaking over the peaks was utterly awesome. It was brutally windy, however, and higher I hiked, the windier it got. At the Virgin of the Clouds I had to huddle behind a rock just to catch my breath out of the wind.

Communal dinner at Orisson 

Pilgrims were spread out along twelve miles of trail, far above tree line. A Brazilian hiker, Milton, was celebrating his 70th birthday on the Camino. He hiked very slowly but smiled and waved to me from ridge to ridge. We had lunch together with another pilgrim who sang Happy Birthday in Portuguese! We spoke no common language but at 5500 feet, words were not needed to have a party!

Milton's 70th birthday at 5500 feet! 

I logged a red kite and formations of griffon Vultures and a few life bird dances! The semi-wild Basque Navorra ponies were everywhere, each herd watched over by an attentive stallion. At one point a herd blocked the trail, refusing to move. A pilgrim traffic jam formed! These are prized horses, bred for a thousand years to survive the brutal Pyrenees winters. Some horses are rounded up for work in the valley fields. Herders ride them to follow the main herds through the steep country.

Basque Navorra stallion, wearing his bell.

A mother and foal navigate a steep hillside with ease.

The winds were unrelenting. As the line of pilgrims approached the pass, the highest point on the mountain crossing at 6000' it was hard to stay upright. Some hikers dropped to all fours and scrambled through the pass. I was happy to be standing at the top. Cheers went up as resting pilgrims encouraged those still climbing. It was a thrilling moment to stand at the summit pass!

Hikers approaching the pass.

At the top we rested, about twenty pilgrims, but after a few minutes we had to move or risk being blown off! The trail followed the ridge for three miles, then began a descent towards the village monastery at Rochesvalles. Seven hours later we were off the mountain and descending towards the bells of the church, exhausted and breathless.

An old shepherd hut now serves as emergency shelter on the summit.

This section of the Camino is a dangerous trek. Every year there are rescues, often involving helicopters and high altitude rescue teams. Some hikers, unfortunately, make poor decisions to attempt this section in poor weather. Some perish. Pilgrims have been making the trek for hundreds of years, a test of faith and resilience like no other. Today's modern equipment, however, offers a false sense of safety and maybe over-confidence. I'm happy we had excellent weather!

Day 1: SJPP to Orisson

I met my Camino family today in St. Jean Pied du Port, France! I stayed a beautiful albergue, owned and managed by Josef and family. The place, like most of the old walled city, was built during the early Medieval period. Huge beams of oak, harvested in the 900s, loomed over my head in my top bunk. A quick nap to help with jet lag, then the call to dinner! Introductions for twenty people, then a communal meal.

At the table my new Camino family.

Albergue Beilari

Next morning I woke early and started my climb into the Pyrenees. It was wickedly steep walking. One of the people i was following became quite sick hours into the walk. It was all he could do to take a step at a time. The road was like climbing steep stairs for miles and miles. I stopped often to catch my breath, scan the skies for birds, and take pictures.

Six miles of steep walking took four hours!

The Pyrenees surrounded us, hundreds of pilgrims streaming up into high peaks, most having started at SJPP, some having walked from as far as Munich, Paris, and Rome. We were in Basque country - fiercely independent and rooted to the earth. This is not France nor Spain, I was informed by one Basque hiker. These mountains have been home for thousands of years, long before France or Spain were even imagined.

A land of shepherds, a land of the Celts, Euskadi.

I took breaks every hundred steps trying to catch my breath. Many people just strode upward, many more struggled. The sick pilgrim, now far below, was advised to turn back. Pilgrims passed word up the mountain that he insisted on continuing . I learned today (three days later as I write this post in Zubiri ) that the man, in his forties, collapsed at Orisson and died. But at the time of my own climb, news of his condition was being passed forward: Pray for this pilgrim. Offer him help to come off the mountain.   

The Choreographer

I'm one sleep away from starting my Camino out of St. Jean Pied du Port, France. I stayed the night in Pamplona to recover from almost 20 hours of continuous travel. The hostel is in the heart of the Old City on the second floor of an elegant apartment building.

It filled up fast over night and when I awoke this morning every bunk bed was filled. Last evening I spent walking the great fortress walls and returned to meet many pilgrims who had checked in while I was roaming.

Hostel on the second floor.

Everyone had a story as to why they are walking the Camino. Tom, a monk from Ireland, is walking in the tradition of his order and for his own very deep spiritual commitments. Chris and her brother are hiking to celebrate her recovery from cancer. "My own personal running of the bulls," she said.

Chris had her own brush with death two years ago.

Jorge is biking the Camino from Munich and had something to say about every day riding - so beautiful. Beth, an American nanny for a local family, suddenly found herself on the street when the lady of the house threw her to the curb in a psychotic fit. So she checked in to the hostel for three nights, long enough to ship her baggage home to Idaho and refit for a Camino walk. She's only 20, on summer break from university, so why not? Her mom was FaceTime chatting with her and said "The Holy Spirit is a careful choreographer - there is a reason for this!" Beth finished her good cry over pizza with Chris and I, and today I will help her find an outfitter. My bus leaves for SJPP at 2:30 today, so I have plenty of time to help her.

Lots to see in the Old City

I met many pilgrims on the bus ride. Rich from Minnesota will be at the albergue Belieri in SJPP, same as me, so we'll catch up again. On the bus from Madrid I could barely keep my eyes open, but a group of nuns in hiking gear were road birding, so everytime they called out some bird in Spanish I came wide awake! I thank them for my first bird of the trip - huge European Black Vultures wheeling around over the hot, scrubby meseta landscape we were riding though.

Plain pilgrims breakfast.

Brother Tom said a beautiful morning prayer in the common room this morning as we bowed our heads over tea and toast. The group then scurried to clean dishes and assemble their packs, everyone calling out "Buen Camino!" as they bustled out the door. Now Beth and I will go find the outfitters and get her ready for her first unplanned but completely choreographed walk to Santiago de Compostela!

Where stories were shared.

Ultreia!

The Road

Here is the road: the light
comes and goes then returns again.
Be gentle with your fellow travelers
as they move through the world of stone and stars
whirling with you yet every one alone.
The road waits.
Do not ask questions but when it invites you
to dance at daybreak, say yes.
Each step is the journey; a single note the song.

~ Arlene Gay Levine ~

Graduation!

Packed and ready to go! Tomorrow (Tuesday) I fly to Madrid, then take a bus to Pamplona, then another bus to St. Jean Pied du Port (France) and finally start my long walk on Friday. I can't wait to meet my Camino family! But first I want to thank family and friends here at home who have helped me walk a different path these past six years. Molly and Peter Eppig, cousins in NH who were the most gracious "landlords" when I came up for classes, seminars, intensives, and finally defense and graduation!

Bug and Annie - the Coonhounds

And there is a long line of dog and cat and cabin sitters who have been there for all the times I had to fly/drive/leave for doctoral work/research/classes. Some of these include Laura, Kari, Poppy (Glen), George, Julie, Maggie, Mary, Emily, Pete. Most of all I need to thank Jacke - my neighbor and great friend - for always being there for my coonhounds when the sitters were late or delayed. Poor Annie can't hold it anymore. Old, old girl. It's been a team effort, this doctoral program!

Environmental/sustainable ag history is my thing and I can't wait to look at the rural and urban scenes of the Camino through the eyes of a pilgrim. I really want to learn as much as I can about rural life of Northern Spain, including the past and present issues of farm abandonment. So much is being done in the EU and in Spain and Portugal particularly, to rewild some of these landscapes. Nature and ecological tourism holds a lot of promise for abandoned landscapes, especially where focused efforts to conserve and reintroduce wildlife are being made today. I'll be the pilgrim with binoculars around her neck and a waist pack loaded with a notebook, maps, and camera! It'll be like walking a six week intensive field course.  

APOC and Camiga patches

Somebody asked me if I had any spiritual intent while walking The Way. I don't think this hike is any different than the dozens of other long distance hikes I've done - they've all been pilgrimages of sorts. Nature is my church and St. Francis "gets me" well enough that I am comfortable having long walking conversations with him.  But if St. James calls out from am olive grove and offers me a drink of fresh, cold water on the hottest day on the meseta, I won't argue with him!  Birds have always been my angels. Mountains and the prairies have always given me visions. Old farmers, my sages. Old shepherds, my guides. Ultreia!

How many are your works, Lord!
    In wisdom you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures. 

 There is the sea, vast and spacious,
    teeming with creatures beyond number—
    living things both large and small. 

 There the ships go to and fro,
    and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

All creatures look to you
    to give them their food at the proper time. 

 When you give it to them,
    they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
    they are satisfied with good things.

When you hide your face,
    they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to the dust.

When you send your Spirit,
    they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.

May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
    may the Lord rejoice in his works— 

 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
    who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

I will sing to the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    as I rejoice in the Lord.

 Psalm 104

(As read at Pentecost Service, First Congregational Church of Hancock, NH, 15 May, 2016)

What a Modern Pilgrim Carries

Big stuff, like technical rain jacket, lightweight mirco-fiber hoodie get stuffed in the roomy pack lid of my Osprey 38. Flip flops for shower and evenings stored in rear pack exterior pocket. Electronic stuff (plug adapter, cords for camera and tablet) in a zippy lock bag goes inside a waterproof pocket bag, along with my headlamp, stuffed into top of pack. Buff, damn-banna, baseball cap, hiking boots will go on me. Nalgene water bottle is clipped to my shoulder strap for easy access. I don't care for interior water/tube-style bladders. Water is readily available all along the Camino, so one bottle will be fine. 

Lightweight stuff sack (waterproof) holds three zippy lock bags. On top of all the zippy bags is a bright green microfiber towel. I carry a large one to dry off after a shower, hang for privacy in my bunk, or use for a cooling blanket when wet on hot nights in the albergue.  One zippy holds two technical hiking shirts and a long sleeved sun shirt (long-sleeve I'll wear on the plane). Another zippy bag holds shorts and hiking pants (pants I wear on the plane). Last zippy bag hold a pair of sock liners, two pair Darn Tough Socks (made in Vermont!), two pair sock liners (to guard against blisters). Yes, those are technical boy-shorts for underwear - these protect against hip belt chafing and are way more comfy than women's underwear! An extra bra, too. 

Small stuff will live in zippy lock bags like first aid and shower & morning stuff. Cash, cards, passport, pilgrim credential will live in money belt. Small waist pack will hold small camera, small tablet, binocs (these will be around my neck when hiking), and maybe the guidebook. I have enough apps on the tablet, I haven't decided whether to carry the guidebook. My sketch journal will ride in the backpack during the day and hang out in the waist pack in the afternoon-evenings when I go exploring around the villages where I stay. My first aid bag contains more than I would normally carry for myself alone. I take my role as camiga seriously -  look out for others who may need care - so I will carry enough tape, sterile wipes, antibiotic gel, ibuprofen, allergy meds, and sterile gauze to help more than a few hikers.

All packed up. My hiking poles are attached to the Osprey 38. The small waist pack looks way too big in this picture, but t's actually pretty small. I'll wear it backwards on my front as I'm hiking and carry it in the evenings to museums, churches, birding, cafes. There's plenty of extra room in there for snacks, fruit juice bottle, some fruit.

Here's my duffle bag with pack and hiking poles inside. Also inside is a large mailing envelope to mail the duffle ahead to a friend in Santiago who holds pilgrim parcels for pick-up when they are ready to head home. I'm sure I'll have some trinkets, T-shirts, and books to add to the duffle for the trip home!

Other stuff not in the photos above:  ear buds and cord for listening to music from my tablet (guard against loud snoring), extra cards for the camera in a tiny box kept in the waist pack, extra boot laces to use as a clothesline with bag clips to hold laundry, and my summer-weight sleeping bag in a waterproof stuff sack. Also three diaper pins to attach wet laundry/towel to my pack when hiking in the sun.  My Osprey 38 pack, ready to hike, weighs in at 16 pounds, minus water weight (2 liter bottle).

Walking The Way - Why?

Part of my interest in walking the Camino de Santiago stems from perennial questions that drive environmental history regarding human exploitation of natural resources. Layered on the natural Iberian landscape are tens of thousands of years of human occupation shaped by diverse cultures, religious traditions, beliefs and values towards nature, and ideological forces. My main interest is in bird species of Northern Spain particularly vultures, storks, and raptors - birds that are deeply embedded in human legend and mythology as well as tangled  in our environmental missteps.

Study of a black vulture. Acrylic. P. Eppig 2015

People walk the Camino de Santiago for many reasons. Generally these can be lumped into three broad categories: religious/spiritual, recreational/adventure, and health/learning. I definitely can claim space in all three groups as I am sure many pilgrims can! For my hike I want to emphasize environmental history, so I'm doing a lot of reading and research about the route, talking to naturalists in Spain, and trying to become familiar with Spanish wildlife (particularly birds) with a number of cool apps. To that end, and for anyone interested in the same background reading, I've included a Reading page in the navigation bar. I'll post links to my research materials there with some brief notes. 

Scored these at a used book store for $3

I understand that some people prefer their Camino experience to be fresh, immediate, and in the moment - without a lot of pre-knowledge - to let the Camino unfold as it may. How a person prepares (or not) depends on their reasons for doing the hike. Some come to the Camino experience through the framework of particular religious or cultural traditions. Some are atheists, evangelicals, humanists. Most are Christian, some are Buddhist, others are Muslim. People of all ages and abilities are on the trail.

A group well worth joining!

All nationalities are represented on the road to Santiago. It's been said that the tradition of doing a pilgrimage on the Camino is like participating in a grand experiment for how human society  should exist together - as fellow travelers sharing the road together. There is a vast network of Camino pilgrims out there!. Some are organized as formal fraternities, others as informal social media groups. I became a member of the Fraternity of American Pilgrims on the Camino (APOC) and from there a whole new world opened up with a ton of forums, regional chapter hikes, events, a conference! I received my official credential from APOC - which is like a hiker's passport - that I'll have stamped every day. I'll present my credential to the Pilgrim's Office of Santiago to receive my Compestella Certificate to confirm my completion of the Camino.  http://peregrinossantiago.es/eng/

My credential.

The other day an acquaintance questioned me about the conditions I might encounter on the Camino. She made faces when I told her I was walking the whole way. She almost fell over when I told her I was staying in hostels and albergues at night ("sleeping with strangers?!") and she just couldn't wrap her head around any kind of international trip that did not involve a resort, tropical luxuries, guided tours by air conditioned bus, and fancy dinners out. Sorry, I said, I'm no tourist. I explained that a pilgrimage is very different and that the experience is meant to open your heart and mind to new ways of looking at the world - that it is not always comfortable or fun or what you expected or wanted - but it always provides. She was really interested to know what I will take for six weeks of hiking. This turned into an hour-long conversation, so I'll save that for my next post.