The Camino wasn't going to let us off easy. It needed at least one more day of chewing us up prior to spitting us out in Santiago. The guide book showed a 100 meter incline over the 20k. My question is how many 100 meter inclines? I would guess 80% of today's path was heading…

22k of peaceful hiking, we found the solution to avoiding the crowds: 1. If you must stay in towns at the end of a stage in the popular Brierly guide, leave late. It seems most groups leave at 8:00 or 9:00a.m. 2. Even better, stay at a town located at the midpoint between the beginning…

We left Portomarin, crossing a bridge further up the river, revealing more of the landscape of the previous town. Despite the uphills, cold rain and the noise of hundreds of pilgrims, it was a satisfying walk through a lush temperate rain forest climate similar to North Vancouver's, but with mostly deciduous trees. We joked: What's…

It's not the same Camino experience once you hit the 100k marker. The trail is now marked every .5k, a concrete countdown back to reality. I was doing my best to stall and enjoy every last moment. C hit a grumpy patch, annoyed with the number of people, particularly the cyclists. In the previous sections…

AKA, the day of the non walking wounded. The Camino is full of inspirational messages. Pain is part of the Camino. The relentless walking takes its toll on the body: tendinitis, blisters, which thankfully for the most part we've avoided, bursitis, burning knees and fall injuries. Resigned to our real rest day, we positioned ourselves…

Another day of pastoral beauty in the sunshine into the city of Sarria, which marks the beginning of the home stretch, the last 100k of the Camino de Santiago. Along the way we met a local donkey, a gentle docile soul used to pats and treats from passing peregrinos. We passed the cabbage variety grown…

The afternoon of our 37th day lead us through mossy tree tunnels with the sounds of birds and the water in a brook below the path. It was a long day. I told C that walking 20k with one painful foot only equals 10k of pain, but my patience was wearing thin when he told…

Galicia in the sunshine is a place of indescribable beauty. There was almost too much to take in for one day. The morning's views were green valley vistas, the mist settling in the distance. I was thinking of other scenes of Camino beauty and the rainbows of the other day came to mind. I realized…

Oh that Brierly Guide! All pilgrims who use it will tell you their annoyance with the incline charts, and even the narrative stating hills so small they won't be noticed. Anyone can tell by the scenery that's it's impossible to go anywhere without tremendous ups and downs. So up and down we went. The occasional…

A very full 25k day, 10 on horseback. Starting in the dark, walking through sunrise, we arrived to meet our guide who would take us to O Cebriero, a Gallecian town steeped in Celtic history. Seven of us, three coincidentally from Vancouver's North Shore, rode up the steep mountain over pavement, Roman roads, shale and…