Here is some random information that will interest few people, if any!
First, I have yet to see any roadkill! In our part of Missouri, if you drive 5 miles on a highway, you are pretty much guaranteed to see some form of roadkill — skunk, opossum, raccoon, armadillo, deer, etc. Over the past week, I have pretty much walked right by major roads and have yet to see one roadkill! In fact, the total amount of wildlife I have seen over the 300+ miles I have walked amounts to 3 deer and 5 rabbits. Again, information that probably interests no one except for Ryan!
As I indicated in a blog nearly 2 weeks ago, the Camino de Santiago is unofficially divided into thirds. The first third goes from St. Jean Pied de Port, France to Burgos, Spain. It is said that that those 10-12 days are to toughen or tone your body. And does it ever do that! The first three or four days, every muscle is screaming for you to stop! The first third is brutal even to those of us who lead a fairly active lifestyle — few people are used to walking those kinds of distances over terrain like the Pyrenees mountains.
But it is true that by the time you get to Burgos, your body still won’t like what you are doing to it, but at least your muscles will have quit screaming as much, and you will have started the process of toning your body. And of course the Bible says that physical exercise is profitable for the body! And all the people groaned at that statement! 😩
I’m currently at the blue dot — Astorga
The second third of the trail is what they call toning the mind. That portion of the Camino goes from Burgos to Astorga. After a couple of weeks of walking the Camino, it loses some of its appeal. It is no longer fun. The excitement is gone. The honeymoon is over. And your mind sometimes wants to play tricks on you and comes up with all kinds of excuses why it would be “God’s will” to bail.
It’s incredible how our mind messes with us! For that reason, the Bible really encourages us to guard our thoughts and our mind. During this stage I have really tried to work on the thoughts that I allow to stay in my mind.
Well, today began the last third of the trail. As pilgrims leave Astorga, a city of 10,000 people, pilgrims are encouraged to tone their soul.
This is the most important part, because this is what deals with the eternal part of us. A lot of the trail today was just spent doing some deep soul-searching. Whereas yesterday I had a spirit of praise, today there was more of an introspective feel. I was asking God to search my heart for anything that might be of concern to Him — including any attitudes, impure motives, pride, jealousy — all those things that tend to take us down.
So I can’t say today was an awesome day, but it was a good start as I began to tone my soul!
Regarding the trail - today was brutal! Most of that was my fault. As I planned my stages several days ago, I decided to go 3.2 miles past the regular stopping point for the day today. The reason was that tomorrow there is a very special place along the Camino, and I wanted to take a few miles off the long day tomorrow so I wouldn’t feel rushed at that special place. I will dedicate a good part of tomorrow’s blog to that.
But even though my reasoning was sound, now I see why they recommend stopping 3.2 miles before I did - those 3.2 miles are all uphill, very steep, and took place around midday in the hot sun. This was the first day I ran out of water! Earlier in the day, there were places where I could have filled my two water containers, but I didn’t think I would need it. Big mistake! I did get a bit dehydrated.
This gives the ascent the last 3.2 miles. Green highlighter: typical stopping point. Yellow highlighter : my actual stopping point. Whew! 🥵
Those last 3.2 miles seemed to go by so slowly. I was pretty depleted when I finally walked those last few steps up the steep hill to my Albergue. Tomorrow is close to a 17-mile day as well, so hopefully my body can recover quickly.
Now having said that, the trail today, up to the last 3.2 miles, was amazing. Finally we got away from the loud highway. If I could have just changed out the vegetation, the terrain looked like it was part of the Ozarks. I even saw some cows today for the first time. It was a good walk today, except the last 3.2 miles!😆
Early-morning visit to a church
My home for tonight
So as you walk the Camino with me, don’t forget to take these last remaining 10 stages to tone your soul! Ask God to show you anything that might need to be pruned from your life! Let’s become spiritually fit together!
Approximate total miles: 560
Approximate miles walked today: 16
Approximate remaining miles: 221