Month: April 2016

My Camino April 28 2016

Well it’s been a long time since my last post. Packed up the Casa in the Baja for the summer. Drove north for three days , with the cats, beautiful trip via San Felipe. Arrived safe and sound in Las Vegas. Nice to see Renee again, and re connect.

Spent the last couple of weeks searching the Internet for all the gear I am going to need. My son Randy bought me an awesome Kathmandu 40 liter backpack, while he was on a layover in Brisbane. Have gotten loads of valuable info from my Jet Setting Kiddos. Feels like I have been living at REI and Dicks sporting Goods. I have been hiking most everyday breaking in my new Keen hiking boots and sandals. Very different hiking here in Vegas , but Renee and I have found a nice arroyo hike very near the house. We have also been hiking in sunset park, very good trails and lots of wildlife. The park has a system of trails and rural paths. Easy to hike 6 or more miles and never repeat a path or trail.

I now have all my gear together and I am ready for the Camino. The pack and all the gear that I will vary weighs just under 14 lbs. that’s with everything but the water bladder filled.

Here are some photos of the gear all laid out. And the pack fully loaded.

Everything that is going in the backpack.
  These two Jackets stow in there own pocket pouch they ate the blue and black pouch sacks in the  above photo.
    Jackets in their pouch pockets
     The Packing list
  The fully loaded backpack , just under 14 lbs. and still has room to spare.

My Camino April 6 2016

Great walk this mornig under overcast skys, nice and cool. Started the wald walk with Jane and Dave, good friends, and awesome people. Dave’s foot was sore, so he only went to the beach with us, Jane and I had a wonderful walk down the beach and up into the mountain bike trails. So nice to walk with Jane and we had wonderful conversations, she is a very wise, and centered woman. We walked and talked for 6 miles this morning. here are a few photos  of the walk.

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My Camino April 5 2016

Got a sunrise start for today’s walk, to beat the heat, walked the beach to the hot springs , then up the hill to start the Johns Java Trail.  did the loop to the north,then walked the mountain trails all the way back to the Casita. 7.6 miles , a good workout, with the up and downs in the hills. Only 20 minute miles in the hills, but a good workout. could hear the chick chirping in the nest by the lighthouse.img_1336

Greeted by a nice sunrise

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Nice way to troll for a fish dinner later

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I am doing one step at a time, this guy has to do six steps at a time.

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Osprey Nest

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Try walking a mile in another person’s shoes, you might find a path that you never knew existed.

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The birthplace of new life, very cool nest.

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The road less traveled. Our access to the beach.

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My Camino April 3 2016

Found this Camino Prayer. It is message I will carry with me , in my mind and in my backpack.

“Although I may have traveled all the roads,
crossed mountains and valleys from East to West,
if I have not discovered the freedom to be my self,
I have arrived nowhere.

Although I may have shared all of my possessions
with people of other languages and cultures;
made friends with Pilgrims of a thousand paths,
if I am not capable of forgiving my neighbor tomorrow,
I have arrived nowhere.

Although I may have had food and water each day,
or may have had my injuries well attended,
if I have not discovered the Divine in others,
I have arrived nowhere.

If from today I do not continue walking on the path,
searching and living according to what I have learned;
my journey has been in vain because,
I have arrived nowhere.”

Good workout today on the hike, a bit slower than yesterday , lots of uphill areas. did 8.2 miles but the GPS was not getting a good signal , only recorded 7.2 miles but kept the time going, so the average per mile pace was not correct . Oh Well no biggie. Here are some photos of the hike today.

up near the top of the trail
walking to the hot springs beach
Looking towards Punta Gorda
starting up the hill,
bet the Kayaker is not sweating like me

My Camino April 2 2016

This is the start of my preparation for the Camino De Santiago. After a winter in the casa in El Sargento, Baja California Sur Mexico, a winter filled with many personal challenges, lots of soul searching, and a quest to find my personal truths. I have decided to walk the Camino De Santiago starting in Mid to late May 2016. The “Camino” as it is called, is a pilgrimage from St. Jean France in the Pyrenees mountains, across all of Spain, and ending in Santiago, Spain.

Once I decided to walk the Camino, I had the stark realization that this old body is not in shape to walk 800 KM, almost 500 miles, of the Camino De Santiago. So, I have changed my carnivore, fat filled, pizza eating, ice cream loving, cheesey mexican food loving diet, to a more healthy diet of, fresh fruit, yogurt, smoothies, veggies, and fish. I do allow for the temtation of a fat juicy rib eye steak, and a fully stuffed baked potato, including sour cream and cheese and bacon bits, once in a while. Basically, low fat, no or limited dairy, no sugar, no bread, no soda pops, and drinking lots of water. I have not stopped , beer , rum or tequila.

I started exercising three weeks ago, hiking here in El Sargento, My first walk was about one mile, I was huffing and puffing walking up hill, and needed a nap when I got back to the Casita. Day two I doubled the extreamly long distance of day one, and needed two naps, and a beer. after a week I was walking 5 miles or more in the morning, on the beach and then up into the mountains , using the single track mountain bike trails that twist and turn thru the cactus filled area of the Cacachilla mountains here in the Baja. As of this date I am walking 6-9 miles a day, today I did the mountain, and beach walk, a total  of 8 miles in 2 hours and 15 mins, with a fair amount of vertical climb. I am walking 5 or 6 days a week and have lost about 10 pounds, would be more, but I fall to temptation , beer , Margaritas, and ice cream, with a filet mignon thrown in. all in due time , I will corral my temptations.

 

My Camino De Santiago 2016

April 1 2016

The Camino De Santiago, known in English as “The Way of St. James,” is the name of any of the pilgrimage routes to the shrine of the apostle St. James in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain. The earliest records of visits paid to the shrine dedicated to St. James at Santiago de Compostela date from the 9th century, but it wasn’t until the 12th century that large numbers of pilgrims from abroad were regularly journeying there. The route is now one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites.

The Camino Francés or French route is the most popular pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. It runs from St. Jean Pied de Port on the French side of the Pyrenees to Roncesvalles on the Spanish side and on to Santiago de Compostela for a total of 791 kilometers or 490 miles. This is fed by three major French routes: the Voie de Tours, the Voie de Vezelay, and the Voie du Puy. It is also joined along its route by the Camino Aragones, the Camí de San Jaume, the Camino Primitivo, and the Camino de Levante. Other Spanish routes are the Camino Inglés, the Via de la Plata, the Camino Portugues, and the Camino Norte. This Camino network is similar to a river system with small brooks joining together to make streams, and the streams joining together to make rivers, most of which join together to make the Camino Francés.

Many of those setting out on the Camino de Santiago give a religious or spiritual reason for going. Others find spiritual reasons along the Way as they meet other pilgrims, attend pilgrim masses in churches and monasteries and cathedrals, and see the large infrastructure of buildings provided for pilgrims over many centuries.

Some people travel the Camino on bicycle or on horseback, but the traditional way is to walk. Walking the Camino is not difficult, with most of the stages being fairly flat and on good paths. The main difficulty is that few of us have walked every day for a month or more. You learn more about your feet than you would ever have thought possible! And you also learn a lot about life.

The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is a Romanesque structure with later Gothic and Baroque additions. There is a statue of St. James at the altar, and his relics lie beneath the cathedral’s high altar in a silver coffer; they can be viewed from the crypt. In the cathedral’s Capilla del Relicario (Chapel of the Reliquary) is a gold crucifix, dated 874, containing a piece of the true Cross.

The most impressive tradition of this cathedral is the fast swinging thurible, an ornate, 1.6 metre high censer which is the largest in the world. This censer is named Botafumeiro and is used in specific ceremonies. It swings with a speed up to 80 km/h, leaving trails of thick fumes. It is considered that this powerful “air freshener” was used in order to mask the stench from the crowd of pilgrims who entered the cathedral after weeks long, exhausting pilgrimage without washing. Copy and paste this link into your browser for photos and more information about the cathedral: http://www.caminotravelcenter.com/do-you-know-santiago-de-compostela-cathedral/.