The Beginning of the Walk

Overview: the Camino Francés

This is the so-called “French way,” leading from the Pyrenees across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela and the most well-known and well-travelled of the pilgrim roads to Santiago. 

The Camino de Santiago, also known as el camino de santiago or the way of Saint James, are actually several hiking routes that all lead to the town of Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. The Camino Frances is the most popular camino, starting in Saint Jean de Pied de Port in France, and ending up about 30 - 45 days later in the town of Santiago de Compostela. 

The origins of the Camino de Santiago goes back one thousand years and it was an important christian pilgrimage route during the middle ages, all walking to seek forgiveness from St James. It is thought that the remains of the apostle Saint James are buried in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

In modern times pilgrims walk it for many reasons, not only religious, and to be a pilgrim has changed its meaning. What attracts people to the camino de santiago today, I think, is the mix of adventure, seeing spain and its culture and the camaraderie that builds up over several weeks of walking. Pilgrims that walk come from all over the world and that creates a great environment. Mix that with some good spanish wine and food, and you have the perfect experience.

The route is 800km long (500 miles), starting either in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the French side of the mountains and the border or 27km later in Roncesvalles in Spain.  It passes through Pamplona, Puente la Reina, Estella, Logroño, Burgos, León, Astorga, Ponferrada and Sarria before it reaches the “City of the Apostle” Santiago de Compostella in the western reaches of Galicia.  The route takes, on average, 4 - 6 weeks to walk.

The route is extremely well marked throughout with yellow arrows painted on rocks, trees. buildings etc., as well as with plaques and signposts bearing stylized shell symbols and the Council of Europe blue and gold shell logos. It is marked to Santiago only.

The terrain is varied, beginning with the ascent of the Pyrenees then passing through the undulating meseta (tableland) of the central part of the route between Burgos and León.  After that the camino enters the Montes de León with some of its formerly abandoned villages now come back to life, before entering Galicia, green, wooded and criss-crossed with old walled lanes.

Formerly a quiet, solitary route the Camino francés has become extremely popular in recent years. In 2003 over 65,000 pilgrims of all ages, backgrounds, motivations, abilities and nationalities walked, cycled or rode all or part of this route. by 2010 this had reached 272,703.

I will start in St Jean Pied de Port, France.  Here are some pics:

The city streets of St Jean

The beds at the refugio in St Jean

The climb begins

The route - up up up up and then down down down - and this is just the first day.  Of course you can start on the other side of the Pyrenees at Roncesvalles, Spain.  You can also walk around the mountain but that route is on a very busy road.  I am going to walk over the mountain.

Looking back at St Jean Pied de Port.

 I thought I would begin to show the walk in short details and a few pics others have taken as they walked.  Over the years I have read many books written by those that have walked before me.  These have all inspired me to begin the training I am doing over the next year to prepare for this walk.  Many do not train at all and therefore do have some very strong results.  It is reading about the sore muscles, blistered feet and exhaustion that prompted me to decide to train for this next year.  I am sure there will be my own pains as I walk but maybe I will be able to avoid some of the more extreme problems. 

There is a hospital that has been built just to treat the pilgrims after the first 3 days of walking.  Many pilgrims have to turn around and go home at this point.  I decided I would train.

Buen Camino
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I would like to give credit to the following sites for allowing the sharing of their information.  Since I have not walked yet I am sharing their pics and info.

http://www.santiago-compostela.net/frances/en_cf01.html
http://www.caminodesantiago.me/
http://www.csj.org.uk/route-camino-frances.htm
http://www.ourcamino.com/stjean.html

It's So Hot Here - I Can't seem to get away from the Heat this year

So I take a vacation.  I go to Colorado.  You know, that cool place in the mountains.  Well, let me tell you about it. Median temps this time of year are supposed to be 71 degrees.  Yes, 71.  Do you think I could get a break?  Not on your life.  They are having record braking temps in the mid to upper 90's the whole time I am here.  Ok, I will tell the truth, really there were 2 days in the 80's.  Now get this, I am roasting and I mean like a turkey on a spit roasting.  So I go to the pool to cool off.  In I go, happily doing my laps and suddenly I start to feel cold.  It seems that the dry weather fosters a cold chill in the water.  After sweating all day now I am in the pool freezing.  Cut me a break here. 

Change of plans.  We are going to Estes Park, higher stakes, tomorrow morning for a short trip to cool off and enjoy a light walk and some coffee at the outdoor patio by the river.  Awwwwww, sounds so great.  I am going to bring my long sleeved shirt in hopes I get to put it on.  I am dreaming of a nice cool morning, a breeze, some sunshine (maybe a few clouds just for decoration in the sky) and a tall cup of warm coffee.  A warm fuzzy feeling as I walk around the town and on a few short trails.  I will have my grand daughter with me.

So for any of you out there with those special powers of creation would you help me to have my dream day in the mountains.  Thanks

"We must be the change we wish

to see in the World."

Mahatma Ghandi

A view along the way - The Camino Frances in Spain

Buen Camino
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On My Flight to Colorado I was told How to Lose Weight

I met this very nice lady on my plane flight from North Carolina to Colorado.  We were talking about trying to be fit as a more mature adult.  I must say she is 8 years my junior.  She said being in her 50s was very difficult to lose weight.  She had tried a lot of things and they didn't work.  But one day she discovered how good she felt after her walks. As this good feeling began to grow she found herself walking/hiking for the good feeling she received after.  In a short time she began to notice the changes in her body and checked the scales.  Surprise! She had lost 28 pounds.  She is still working with this.

I was on a Camino site the other day and she said the same thing.  When she stopped thinking about her body and how it looked to others along with all the other silly body issues we women seem to have, her weight just dropped.  She was talking about her daily routine.  She got up about 6am.  She is not a morning person so this was very difficult for her.  I am also not a morning person.   But she said after a while she just let go of her concerns for wearing the same clothes every day and washing them out every night.  She found her pace once she got through the blister stage and the pain from walking over the Pyrenees.  She said she started to feel good and didn't even think about how she looked or smelled.  Soon she was feeling good at the end of each day instead of sore  and tired.  She lost 18lbs during her walk. 

I am starting to find a common denominator.  Stop thinking about how you look and begin to enjoy what you are doing and everything will fall into place.  Along with the advice I received from a reader who has recently lost weight I will just let go and see each day as joyous.  I will revel in the joys of the results of the day and live simply.

Freedom

Our pain is a great teacher

You either fall under and say 'poor me'

OR

You look for the wisdom and

Become greater than the Situation

Buen Camino
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Here in Colorado

Beautiful Blue skies, a nice breeze, 64 degrees.  I am in heaven.  Perfect weather for hiking and walking.  Today my granddaughter and I are going to spend the day walking all over town, starting with the library, on to city park then lunch.  After lunch it will have warmed up so we will hit the pool.  I may not get the same exercise I would get hiking a mountain but rest assured by the end of the day she will have exhausted me.  My workout today will work many more muscle than just an 8 mile hike does  Ceanna loves to ride on my shoulders, so when she gets tired of walking up she will go.  This is a good workout.  I will find muscles I haven't used lately and wake them up.  She even gets the hand weights out and says "Mema let's lift weights together."

The first week end here there wasn't much diet going on but today the kids are working so easy to stay on it.  The kids are interested in my raw foods and tried some for dinner last night.  They loved them and decided they would begin to incorporate them in their diets.  It is a funny thing about getting ready to walk the Camino, all of a sudden the things we all just talk about like, "I need to get out and walk"  "I need to work out", "I need to eat better", all these just become matter of fact.  Suddenly all the things you keep saying you should do but don't get done get done.  It becomes fun.  As much as many need changes in their lives, this might be a great thing to organize here in America.

Just think about it.  What if it became common in America, as it is in European countries, to take walking pilgrimages.  We have a beautiful country and many of these pilgrimages could be created here.  We do have The A.T., the Pacific Rim, the Continental  Divide and others but we need some that are not quite as rigorous  for beginners.  And they have to become tradition to walk.  It would become part of our society that at some point in life we walk this trail for personal contemplation.  It can be just after college graduation to think about what one wants to do with their life, or in their 30s to rethink the 20s goals, all the way into our 80s and 90s when we look at our life so far and decide what we want with the rest of it.  In Europe they step out of their door and walk to Santiago de Compostella, Spain (the Camino).  Why can't Americans do this?

Buen Camino
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On the Road Again

Traveling today my friends.  I am heading out to see my granddaughter in Colorado.  I hope to fit in a few climbs and walks this next two weeks plus my regular everyday walking.

Have to catch a plane so this will be a short one.

Remember  to always appreciate yourself.  It is one thing we have a tendency to omit in our lives.  Maybe we feel this is too self focused or maybe we don't think we are good enough.  But I am here to tell you that before you can truly love others you must love yourself.  Check into your heart when you meet and talk with people to see where you are.  The heart always tells the truth.  Let your heart be your guide.  If it is broken it will let you know by the inner dialogue of criticisms.  If it is well it will tell you by the inner dialogue of warm fuzzy feelings.

Lots and lots of warm fuzzy feelings to all of you

Buen Camino
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Having a bit of a problem with miles, heat and weight

The heat is starting to get to me.  Over 3 weeks of 90's (3 or 4 days in the 80's) and feels like temps of 100 to 105.  I am having a hard time getting as much done with the intensity.  I will go out and walk 6 or 8 miles but I am in pain, aching, the next day.  I am drinking water before, during and after.  I drink about  90 to 100 ozs a day when I am out in the heat and about 60-80 ozs when I am home or only do 30 laps in the pool.  Maybe it is because I am overweight.  This too has been a problem.  I have been working hard and eating fruits and vegs with lots of greens like kale that is 48% protein.  I get lots of vegetable protein and eat raw as much as possible.  I do have moments off but in comparison to exercise and times it is nothing.  I should be losing weight but I am not.  I am stronger.  I have greatly increased my endurance.  I sleep through the night or up once, much better than before.  I have more energy so am up later.  I am a night person.  Slow to get going in the AM, come into my own by 2pm and go go go till 1 or 2 AM.  I am taking some nutrients and enzymes.  I will start a cleanse in 2 weeks.

OK, I just gave you all a run down.  Now does anyone have any suggestions?  Any one an expert in this area or do you know anyone that is?  If so please share any information you might have.  I am seeking knowledge from people who have done it.  I know there is a lot to read out there but I want it from those that have made it happen or are making it happen for themselves and even better if it is for others as well.

I am going to do some hill hiking for a couple of weeks as I will be in a cooler climate.  I won't have my blender or juicer with me so will have to do my best on the eating front.  Wish I had the funds to go see an expert but alas I need a job.

I hope you are enjoying the movies of the Camino.  By the way, the different terms used regarding this walk are as follows:  Camino, El Camino, The Road to Santiago, The Camino Frances, Camino Santiago de Compostella.  There are several roads, most of them lead to the Camino Francis and from there to Santiago.  The Camino Francis is the most well known and the busiest.

Here is a link to a Webcam at the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostella - The end of the Camino.  You will see many pilgrims walking around and some have spent the night in tents, having arrived late.

http://www.crtvg.es/camweb/index.asp?id=9&mn=COR

"See yourself as Water.  

Water becomes the container.  

Be water in all situations.  

Become the Situation. 

Be One."

(Train Every Part of Your Body)

Bruce Lee

Looks like you will have to copy and paste in a new window the links I am putting here at this time.  I will have to find out how to have them work within the message.  Sorry, this is a big learning process for this grand mother.  Thanks for being patient with me and enjoy the Webcam, it is fun to watch.

There is a new movie out with Martin Sheen and his son about the Camino called The Way

The film "The Way"  has been previewed in Toronto  and is beginning to make its rounds in movie theaters.  I can't wait to see it.  I have gone on the web and found several clips.  Here is a short clip about the film.  I do hope you enjoy it and get to see the movie.  Maybe it will spur you in a way you had not felt before.  I know there was a time the thought of back packing was a laughing matter for me.  I went camping in the Tetons in Montana once and swore when I made it out of the woods that I would only camp at the Hilton from then on.  NOW, here I am planning a 500 mile hike across northern Spain.  It is fascinating how life changes one


http://youtu.be/QjEtMlQ8EYs

After several hours of trying to get the actual movie posted right here, I give up.  I have left the link so you can click and see it on Youtube.  Sorry, maybe one day it will work.  I even tried help and did what it said and still no movie.  BUT one great thing, I figured out how to have a video link to Youtube on the right of this page.  If I finally have it correct you will have videos of the Road to Santiago that you can watch and see what this is all about.  Some are in Spanish but I figured the pictures are worth it.  I do hope you enjoy these and would love some feedback regarding the videos and how they make you feel.

Enjoy my friends

Buen Camino
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The Map of My Trip

 
The Camino Frances crosses the Pyrenees from the French city of St Jean Pied de Port and travels along a 1000+ year old trail to Santiago de Compestella.  It is the most widely known and traveled route but not the only one.  The story begins with St James the apostle.  It is a tribute to this great soul after he brought the teachings of Jesus to Spain.  Walking the Camino is a pilgrimage into ones own soul and the discoveries each of us make as we cross mountains, country paths and the Meseta.  The pilgrim passes from small hamlets to small towns to big cities relying on the hospitality of the locals for their sleeping and food requirements.  A bit different today from centuries past, Refugios or Albergues provide pilgrims a place to sleep and sometimes a place to eat at a nominal fee.   Along the way, pilgrims pass the time as they walk alone and  with others they meet.  It is a time of reflection, working through life's many challenges and finding answers to the many questions.  Each pilgrim has their own reason for walking this route that is said to follow the Milky Way and have a Lay line of energy beneath it's surface.  Countless books talk about personal experiences and historical events, along with all the famous people of centuries past as well as today,   that have chosen to walk this  sacred pathway.

I imagine my own path somedays, each time never matching past reminiscences.  I have come to realize that I can not imagine what it will be like as this trip is so far outside my realm of knowledge that I will have to wait and see what wonders are mine to have.  This brings in control thoughts such as I won't have.. or I won't do... or I will surely not have to deal with...  Each silly thought born of fear.  Maybe part of all of this adventure is the desire for support, something I rarely feel I have.  The camaraderie of the trail, friendship, the support of one another. The respect of personal time along with all the petty little things that will irritate each other.  All of this will bring together in one place a showing of who I really am.  Sometimes I am pleased and other times I am horrified.  This excursion is sure to bring up any unresolved feelings and hopefully I will be able to resolve them and find in life the things I have always sought. They say you have to be in yourself, in order to have, outside yourself.  Maybe this trip will help me find the disconnect.  I will bring lots of rope, glue, cement,  and gadgets to reconnect with this lost part of me. 

Buen Camino
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Accounting for my pain

I didn't get out till 2pm.  Temps in the 90s.  Walked 6.5 miles.  Dragging.


Native American Ontology

When I walk I part the Air
The air fills in behind me
I walk to fill the Earth


This helps me to move in such extremes.  I am astonished at how much I can already do.  I am so much more than I ever thought I was.  Today proved it to me.

Buen Camino
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It's the Week End and I have to pay attention to the rest of my Life

This is an especially busy week end as I am going to visit with my grand daughter next Friday.  I haven't seem her since April and I can't wait to play with her.  I have in my plans to take her on a lot of hikes and hope to have her interested in hiking with me as she grows.  I want to teach her all about being outside and connecting with nature and your true self.

I have my house on the market.  I want to lighten my load.  I am selling much of my furniture.  In fact my favorite person to buy my home is someone who has lost it all and loves my home and wants all of it.  Then I will take my personal items and put them in storage.  They can bring what ever personal items they have and move into a nice house and not have to do anything.  If I was them I would be overjoyed.  I am cleaning and doing laundry.

There is great joy in my heart.  So many people have responded and shared so much.  I love all the posts and connections with all of you.  I feel I am already a pilgrim on the trail.  I was reading something interesting in Jane Christmas's book "What the Psychic Told the Pilgrim" regarding being on pilgrimage.  She and Brigitte had been discussing the ways of doing the walk and whether you lost something if you wanted to take a taxi or bus out of the city so you can walk free of all the city stuff.  Brigitte said "I cannot see wasting our time on a city highway, risking our lives with all that traffic... Besides we are pilgrims, not martyrs, right?"  Then Jane went on to say; "She had a point.  A pilgrimage is not about punishment but about making an intentional decicion to look at the world with fresh awareness and to consider your place in it.  A pilgrim defines her own pilgrimage; maps are guidelines, not  prison sentences..."   This really hit home for me.  It reminded me that if someone feels very strong about how or what must be done on a pilgrimage and I feel different then I must follow me not them.  They are living their pilgrimage and I am living my pilgrimage.  Yeaaa  what a wonderful thing to get into my head before I leave.

My saying for today is by Anais Nin, 1914 - 1977  a French born American Novelist, Dancer

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."

Thanks to everyone who is joining me here in this preparation adventure, you are bringing me new worlds and I am so excited and honored.

Buen Camino
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I hurt so much when I woke up this morning that I just laid there in bed drinking tea

Wow! What a day.  Exhausted yesterday, fell asleep at 7:30pm last night.  Legs tired from walking and swimming.  Woke up early with pain.  Didn't want to move today.  So I drank tea, ate toast and laid around.

Suddenly about 2:30pm the pain was gone and I was ready to head out.  So I swallowed my complaints about the intense heat (92 degrees) and put on my sneakers and backpack.  Off I went.  Today I listened to my ipod.  Usually I don't take it with me as I don't want to be so used to walking with it that it makes it difficult on the Camino.  I would take it to Spain but their will be no way to recharge the batteries. 

I found my stride and just kept going.  I decided to go get some groceries and carry them home in my backpack.  I am practicing carrying more and more weight.  The last time I went to the store it was too much and I got a back ache.  This time I did very well.  No pain anywhere and I walked over 6 miles.  Yeaaaaaa

I got three emails from people who checked in here.  They have walked the Camino and had many things to share.  Thanks Eileen, Barbara and Diane.  I am enriched by all three of you and your sharing.

My quote for today is:

"I cannot THINK myself into a new way of living.  I have to LIVE myself into a new way of thinking."
Author and Zen Buddhist Monk Claude AnShin Thomas

Thank you to every one of you wonderful people who are following me and checking in on my blog.

Buen Camino
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30 Laps at the pool - by the way I am getting a great tan with all this working out

With all the heat and humidity here I have been pushing myself to do all this exercise 5 days a week.  Last week was the first week I accomplished my goal.  I have one more day this week and it will be week two.

It is back in the 90s tomorrow after 3 days in the 80s.  Tonight I am sore and my legs feel like weights.  So I am chugging water and will hit the sack early

I finished my current book today, “AWOL on the Appalachian Trail.”  As he reached the top of Mount Katahdin in Maine I began to cry.  His wife Juli, his nine year old daughter Jesse, and his brother in law Mike hike the last five miles with him.  They go over some treacherous terrain, some if it climbing hand over hand to pull themselves up the side of the mountain.  The three do not have climbing experience therefore it is slow and arduous.  My heart beats faster as they climb, getting closer and closer to the end of his 5 month adventure.  When they reached to top and the end of the trail I was crying full blown.  I felt like I was with David all the way, feeling his pain, his aches and his joys.  Reaching his goal was as adventurous for me as it was for him.  Well, maybe not quite but it was right up there for me.

Tomorrow back with the heat and on the trail again for as many miles as I can make it.

"Don't ever give in to what you want right now, for what you really want."

Buen Camino
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My Best Day Yet

I headed out today to work these legs and lungs not knowing that today I would make it further than I have ever before.  I am in sheer amazement.  I walked  8.5 miles today.  WOW  I am so excited.  And I got home, took a shower and then headed out to REI for a backpacking class.  Still moving!

You know that pudding commercial, where the husband eats the pudding and hides the big smile on his face with the newspaper.  Well, I have his face tonight, I have the pudding face but mine is the walking face.  SMILE

David Miller in "AWOL on the Appalachian Trail" says to find your stride and stay with it.  Don't try to overdue or sprint to keep up with others.  Just walk your stride at your pace and you will get there.  So today I did that.  I focused on just finding my pace and stride and being it.  That is how I got that many miles done today and was still able to head back out for a meeting this evening.  Thanks David

Buen Camino
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Mowing the Hill for strength

Had a great green drink for breakfast this AM.  I have several good green drinks but most of them are too cumbersome.  I found a green packet at the Vitamin Shoppe.  It is so simple.

I have already mowed the lawn.  O what a chore it is.  I have a 45 to 50 degree up slant in back.  I have watched men, big strong ones have trouble with it and refuse to do my lawn any more.  So out goes this 63 year old to mow the hill.  Well, I look at it this way, I need to work all my muscles to get them strong enough for this trip.  SOOOO, a mowing I go, with my battery operated mower that is propelled by me. 

You should see the sight.  Just visualize a lawn mower going across a hill with this old lady bent at her knees, sliding down hill, trying to push and keep the mower on the hill at the same time.  This is certainly the thing that comics are made of.  This would be a good Maxine joke, I can see her now, skinny legs, knees on the ground holding the lawn mower and saying something like "I try to look like I am exercising before I dig into the food pyramid"  Then a second pic with the pic right side up and instead of being on a hill she is kneeling in the grass.   Just her style.  Ok, that was my attempt at making a joke. 

I am reading "AWOL on the Appalachian Trail" by David Miller.  He makes a comment and I am wondering if someone can tell me what the last sentence means and how do you do that.  Thanks

"A hot spot flares up on my foot, the pack belt cuts into my hipbone, rain pesters me, my knee tightens, and hunger suddenly makes me feel weak.  Heavy legs tell me to put my weight on my butt for a while."

I am now heading out to do 30 laps at the pool.  Must work more than my walking/hiking muscles.

Buen Camino
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Traveling in the Heat

It has been between 90 - 95 degrees for the last 18 days (there were only 4 last year) here in North Carolina and it isn't even summer yet.  Joy.

I have been out walking 3 days a week doing 5 to 8 miles.  I have tried to go to the pool on off days but I am frequently in recovery stage and don't make it.  Last week I made it one day and was able to swim 30 laps.  Yeaaaaaaaa

Now all I have to do is build till I can walk 15 miles a day going up and down.  I hope a year is enough time.

I have been reading as many Camino and AT books that I can find.  Lacking anyone to hike with or a group to interact with I am using the immersion into the printed word as my source of encouragement and support.

I have wanted to really know what it will be like to walk over the Pyrenees from the French side to the Spanish side.  It is the first day on the trail.  It is 25km, with adjustment for the hill it is 30km.  Now I figure that is about 20 miles with climb adjustment. 

I have been looking for people's responses to this experience but they have been on the lines of exhaustion, sore, tired as forms of description.  This doesn't tell me much as I am all of these when I return from my present walks.

I found this book written by Jane Christmas with a unique title "What The Psychic Told The Pilgrim" that intrigued me.  The title alone would have me read it just because I wanted to know what a psychic would tell her about a pilgrimage across Spain.  I loved the book.  She is so straight forward, tells it like it is, lets you know how she feels, type of person.  I love this because there is never any question what it is about when you are around her.  Life is so much easier this way.

She wrote an account of her trip up the Pyrenees that hit home.  It told me all I needed to know.  She gave just the right intensity so a person like me got the picture.  I could see her doing it as I read it.  I wish I could draw here as I would put in a pic of what I see in my minds eye.  Her description goes like this:

"Gather round boys and girls, while I tell you in the clearest, bluntest language what it's really like.  Crossing the Pyrenees is torture; imagine Hell under sunny skies.

 "Unbearable, brutal, wicked, hideous" doesn't describe it by half. Never has my body or my spirit been pushed or crushed so hard.  It was the sort of pain that makes you weep, except that you cannot weep, because crying requires energy and you have to conserve every drop for the next step.  At some point you're practically begging Death to wave his scythe over you and end the suffering.

The Camino is often described as a metaphorical journey through your lifetime.  If that's the case, then the section form Saint-Jean, over the Pyrenees, and into Roncesvalles is a metaphor for one's struggle through the birth canal.  No wonder we all emerge screaming.

 The Pyrenees were a staggering challenge to our little group.  Had one of us perished, it would not have surprised me.  We were in over our heads.  Several times during the climb I contemplated curling up into the fetal position by the side of the path just to rest........"

After reading this I realized I better get this big butt out the door and I better start pushing now if I am ever going to make it over the Pyrenees next year.

The end to one more day of movement designed to look like hiking, walking a real outdoorsy person.

It's June 13, 2011 and I have walked 40.15 miles so far this month - my goal is 70 a week before I leave for St Jean Pied de Port, France; my starting point.

Buen Camino
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Trying to Learn about all the equipment I am going to need

If anyone is reading this yet,  my next adventure is to discover what I will need to go on a 500 mile hike.  What kind of equipment will I need?  Will I need to carry certain things?  What kind of shoes or boots?  How about my clothes?  What happens when it rains?  So I will have a lot to learn about equipment and I will appreciate it if anyone serendipitously clicks here, if they would please share what they know.

As I learn more I will post my choices and wait to hear what other hikers have to say about them.

Thanks for all your input or not. 

Spent the Day Making My Blog

What a crazy day.  I kept trying to find out how to start a blog, in fact I have been looking for a week.  Half the day I was fumbling through the web looking for a ' how to do a blog' page.  Frustration setting in, I decided this old mind of mine needed younger help.

I settled on calling a neighbor and asking her to come over and train this pen and paper mind.  I stood up with a hummmm and walked off.

After a delicious green juice breakfast I spent time reading a hiking book. You know, those books that tell you how wonderful it is to walk for miles and miles a day.  Maybe if they say all the right things it will encourage me as I step out in this 95 degree heat to begin my preparation for walking 15 to 20 miles a day, EVERY day for weeks.

What am I getting myself in for here?  Did I let the glory of the walk puff up my brain?  Do I think this is going to be a stroll in the park?

After a couple of hours I came back to the computer to read my email.  I sat down and looked at the page in front of me.  It was talking about starting my own blog, right here on google.  Just push this button and you can start.  Jaw in my lap, my finger hesitantly reached for the button.  Zap!  To late now, I am now in this maze of computer language made for dummies and I still have to read it a couple of times to make sure I understand what to do.  I plunge forward giddy at the prospect that I will actually make a blog and it will work.

After two sessions and lots of ommmmms and awsssssss and hummmmmms, I finally get to this page and begin to type.  I froze, what if no one likes this, what if I am a terrible bore, what if, what if what ifs just kept coming until my fingers just took off.

Deciding I will chronicle my  preparations for myself so I have a diary of what I did to get ready for the walk.  Then when it is over I can see if it was a waste of time or not.  I have learned that it is so easy to forget what one goes through before a big event and looking back isn't always accurate.  So here is the raw truth, my feelings, my pains and my complaints, maybe even a bit of poor me dropping in now and then.

I hope you get something out of my pain and I will do my best to make it as interesting as possible.  Maybe I will carry my camera and take pics of my walks.

I will close with one of my favorite sayings:  "The world will tell you who you are until you tell the world"

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