Laguna de Castilla to Triacastela — El Dorado Springs Church of God (Holiness)

One of the interesting things I have observed is that the Spanish locals don’t call us hikers, nor trekkers. They refer to us as “peregrinos”, or pilgrims. And it does appear that being referred to as a pilgrim is a compliment and a step above a hiker or a trekker.

I have been on the Camino as a pilgrim for 4 weeks. Today, as my Camino odometer rolled past 400 miles, I want to tell you some things I have observed about my fellow pilgrims. To keep this post from being too long, I may do a part 2 in a future post.

The first thing that I have noticed about pilgrims on the Camino is the high level of respect and courtesy they have, not only for each other, but for the local people. This might sound like an exaggerated statement by a preacher trying to make a point, but it’s not!

Over these last four weeks, I have yet to hear any cross words from pilgrims. Now understand, we’ve had plenty of situations where we could have been cross and shown some crankiness! Simply walking 15 to 17 miles a day can bring out the worst in us. And then add to that the fact that as we drag our spent and weary carcasses up to the hostels, we are sometimes wet — whether due to sweat or rain — giving us further reason to be irritable.

There may be additional frustration because someone is staying in the bathroom or shower too long — there are plenty of justifiable reasons for pilgrims to be a bit grouchy at the end of the day.

But again, over the last 400+ miles, I have yet to hear any unkind words, nor see the ugly side of humanity that, unfortunately, we have all witnessed too many times!

My prayer today as I walked was that I would go back home and model this kindness and courtesy, and maybe that we as pilgrims on the Camino of life might become a bit kinder and more courteous!

Something else I have noticed: pilgrims on the Camino understand they are just passing through. They see that any inconvenience or discomfort is temporary. That’s why they can sleep with 18 other pilgrims and share 2 bathrooms.

Now, if my figuring is correct, this is day 29 for me on the Camino. During those 29 days, I have slept in 29 different beds in 29 different villages or cities. Isn’t that crazy? But that’s okay, because I understand I’m just passing through. I can put up with different beds and snorers and a shortage of bathrooms and low-clearance bunks, because I’m a pilgrim, just passing through!

Remember, as a pilgrim on the Camino of life, you are also just passing through. Don’t spend too much energy on those temporary inconveniences that won’t affect your eternity.

One more observation is that pilgrims are so willing to help each other. Yesterday morning, I was walking with a man from Canada. This was the first time I met him. We walked together maybe 20-30 minutes.

As I have indicated, it seems like so many of the conversations end up at the foot. He was talking about the foot problems he has had in the past: he has what he called “hammer toes.” When he would walk, they would become numb. So he went to see some specialists and they came up with a little gel pad with a ring to attach to a toe and fit under his hammer toes. He told me that that had totally taken care of his pain!

I couldn’t believe the conversation. Before I left Missouri, I knew that one of the great challenges for me on the Camino would be dealing with my foot issues. This is probably in the category of way too much information, but I inherited my mom‘s problematic feet, and I have hammer toes as well. When he was describing his problem, even though I hadn’t said anything about my issues, he was describing me exactly! In fact, for the first two weeks of my walk on the Camino, my toes would go numb. But now, after two weeks, they aren’t numb; they just throb all day.

After telling him that, he stopped and took off his pack. He said, “I’ve got three pair of these little gel pads. I’ve only used one, and I’m nearing the end of the Camino. I want you to have one pair.”

I tried to resist, but he wanted to share what had helped him. So, he took out a set of those gel pads and gave them to me.

That’s what pilgrims do.

I wish I could say that I wore them all day and I didn’t have any pain today, but I think there’s going to be a little bit of adjustment time. I felt maybe the break-in period should not be when I am walking 15 to 17 miles a day. But it really impacted me how much pilgrims want to help each other. Also, when I was sick, I had more than one pilgrim try to share some Tylenol to give me some relief.

Again, I hope that I and others of us can model this on the Camino of life!

Well, today’s walk was a good one! Actually, let me rephrase that: Today’s walk was an excellent one! Even though it was almost 15 miles, it seemed way shorter than that! I think part of it was that the terrain was my idea of perfection. In fact, the last two days have been my favorite terrain days on the Camino so far.

The trail took me across mountain passes and through little farming hamlets (settlements smaller than villages). I saw milk cows with cow bells on their necks that were being moved to another pasture walking down the trail. The continual bell-ringing was not annoying, as you might think; it was actually soothing!

Notice the brand of tractor - Lamborghini. 😆 [EDITOR’S NOTE: We thought Joe was just in on a joke with a farmer who stuck a Lambo logo on the side of a Ford tractor or something. But it’s a real thing! Check this out! Lamborghini tractor.]

Also, this morning, for quite a while, the trail took me above the clouds. I could look down and see the cloud cover way below us - that was so cool!

Then a lot of the trail took me through a forest of chestnut trees. At Christmas time when we sing about roasting chestnuts on an open fire, many of us, at least in Missouri, probably couldn’t even identify a chestnut. But chestnut trees grow along the Camino, and the pods are beginning to fall. The outside pod is prickly, but inside that prickly pod, there will be up to four chestnuts. I’ve included some pictures of them, as well as of the trees. I was in awe of all of the chestnuts on the Camino.

So the Camino today was as close to perfection as you will get! My pictures won’t do any of it justice, but just remember that you can take the scenery that you see in the pictures and multiply the beauty by 1,000 and it might get you close to the reality I experienced today!

I wish you could have literally walked with me, but I’m glad that you at least joined me as I feebly tried to describe the spectacular scenery God created and then allowed me to enjoy today!