Walking the Camino de Santiago
Equipment, its purchase and use.
This past weekend was a crazy whirl of last minute errands and bon voyages. Although I’m not leaving until Easter Sunday, and Francine not until the 17th of April, we thought it best to avoid the rushing around the week before Easter. We topped up our equipment at the REI sale in Tacoma on Saturday. Some crazy deals at the […]
» Read moreNow that we are well and truly in Lent, our serious training has begun. Prior to the beginning of February, Francine and I were hiking the weekends and I was walking about two miles a day during my commute. Now we’ve got a slightly more intensive plan. I’m well aware that there’s a school of thought that says you can’t […]
» Read moreCamino planning has taken a turn for the serious this week. Francine got her backpack (a Gregory Freia 30) and ordered her trekking poles, towel, and some other equipment. Oh, and today I booked my flight to Madrid. I’ll be flying out on Easter morning (31 March) and arriving in Madrid on April Fool’s Day. Seems appropriate. Then, I’ll take […]
» Read moreHappy they who dwell in your house! Continually they praise you. Happy the men whose strength you are! Their hearts are set upon the pilgrimage. (from Psalm 84, Optional Responsorial Psalm for today’s Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph) With just over three months to go until I leave for the Camino, my preparations are again […]
» Read moreAs you can see, I’ve added a countdown calendar to the blog on the left-hand side. Right now it stands at 20 weeks! Equipment testing continues, this time with an eye towards the weather. We tested our water-proof regime a few weeks ago on a hike round and round Snake Lake. Although we probably didn’t go any further than about […]
» Read moreOver the course of my initial equipment acquisition and experimentation, the Camino Boards have been invaluable. My Keens are just fantastic – they were broken in by the end of my first hike. My pack – an Osprey Kestrel 48 – is comfortable and roomy. Even with 15 pounds packed in, it weighs almost nothing on my back. And of […]
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Today, after attending a young friend’s graduation, we headed over to Cabela’s to exchange my hiking shoes. I had purchased a pair of Merrils several weeks ago, but after about 20 miles of hikes they had not broken in. In fact, they’d gotten more and more painful the more I wore them. So I exchanged them for a pair of […]
» Read moreWhile today is the feast of Saint Anthony of Padua, I really have little to add over what I wrote last year. Instead, I’d like to ruminate a bit about next year. Yesterday at Mass, I heard the word “pilgrim” an awful lot, including twice the phrase “pilgrim Church on earth” (cf. Third Eucharistic Prayer). Among other things, it got […]
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