09/25/13 We left Roncevalles at sunrise and walked down through Pyrenees foothills, passing farmland and walking through little Spanish villages. Coming out of one village we encountered an elderly gentleman all dressed up. As female pilgrims passed, he would shake hands and then kiss them. He never missed a female. It seemed like quite a […]

We got off to an early start, walking upward into the Pyrenees with the sunrise. Karen was taking pictures left and right, shooting the early morning pastel-colored surroundings. We were walking on a jeep road with other walkers ahead and behind us. Sheepherders drove up in their mini trucks, carrying border collies in the back […]

We got off this morning at 9:05 and took over 3 hours to walk 5 miles to Hotel Orrison, partway up the Pyrenees. The temperature quickly got hot. The road initially alternated between moderately steep uphill and flatter incline. We passed alpine stye farmhouses, bucolic pastures, sheep, cows, flowers, blackberries, and great vistas looking out […]

We got up and headed out into Pamplona to find breakfast, but it was Sunday and no restaurants or stores were open at 8:30. The abandoned streets were an eerie contrast to the hubbub of the night before. The bars all had grills blocking their entrances. We ended up back at Hotel Yoldi, where we […]

We had been in Spain less than an hour when I was pickpocketed in the Atocha train station in Madrid. We had been looking here and there for our train track, being directed up, down, and around corners, but nothing was working. Then a very helpful young woman directed us down some stairs to a […]

We’re now in the Dallas airport, waiting ten hours for our next flight to Madrid. We are essentially catching two red-eye flights back to back to get to Madrid.  Ted hasn’t slept at all, but Karen and I slept fairly well on the plane and then again in the Dallas airport. We managed the latter […]

Since deciding to walk El Camino several months ago, we have all been researching what this will involve, changing our exercise programs to be more hiking specific (doing far less preparatory hiking than I would like), and imagining this adventure that lies ahead of us. The traveling begins five hours from now when our plane […]

I’m Tom, a retired clinical psychologist from Kailua, Hawaii. I will be walking the Camino Frances from the French Pyrenees across northern Spain to the city of Santiago, Spain, where the remains of Saint James are supposedly buried. Coming with me are my wife, Karen, a retired licensed clinical social worker, and my friend Ted, […]