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On The Trail Again: Century Resident Continues Hike Across Spain

We are continuing to follow the journals of Century resident Terri Sanders as she hikes 500 miles across Spain this summer.

As Terri hikes from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France, she will file dispatches from her journal and send pictures when possible for NorthEscambia.com as she hikes the Camino de Santiago — the Way of St. James — to the Atlantic Ocean.

After a bit of  a stomach virus setback at an emergency room visit the last time we checked in with Terri, she’s off again….

To read the complete series from day one, click here.

(Make sure you scroll down to read entries from three different days.)

June 9 2010

Start: Narvarrete

Destination: Burgos

We left the hostel this morning and headed for the bus stop. After waiting 45 minutes a gentleman came and told us we were at the wrong bus top. We just made it to the right stop as the bus turned the corner. We put our packs in the luggage storage and hopped on board.

We are jumping forward to Burgos in order to stay on track. My episode at the emergency room and subsequent bed rest has thrown us off. Gratefully Lou hasn’t thrown me away. In fact both he and the hostel owner have been most solicitous. It was rainy and overcast for the two hour ride to Burgos, but we saw some beautiful scenery and small farms. We both agreed that this was a great way to see the scenery. We got into Burgos just before lunch.

I realized that I had left my walking stick back on the bench at the bus station .I am glad I only paid 5 Euros for it. We got our tickets to see the Burgos Cathedral. We grabbed some soup at a little café. We are learning a few words of Spanish and were glad we got what we ordered.

We then went in search of our hostel which is above a small quaint chapel. There are only 16 bunks here, a small kitchen, shower and toilets. After a refreshing nap, we went for a three hour tour of the cathedral. This is my first cathedral and I quickly ran down my camera battery and got a stiff neck to boot.

The self tour was absolutely great; you could stop and stay as long as you wanted in each of the smaller cathedrals that were built hundreds of years ago. It seems that a ruler or a bishop would just add a room onto the original building.

Afterwards we went on an hour tour of the city on a small train. It was another way to see some of the historic places here without lots of walking. We did take a long stroll along one of the many tree lined streets here. There are lots of plazas and we got lost trying to get back to the hostel. We finally found it and then spent some time in prayer and reflection in the small chapel. I lit a candle for a special prayer request. This is the first time I have ever done that even though I spent the first 8 years of my life as a Catholic.

We found another small café for supper which also offered wi fi and we both checked our emails. I found another hiking stick, this one for 4 Euros. Maybe I can keep track of this one. Tomorrow we start walking again. We had doubled up the miles on several days last week in order to get us ahead before I got sick.

We hope to finish in Santiago on the 30 of June. I discovered as I got ready for bed that my silk liner, my wash cloth and pack towel had not made it into my pack. Somewhere in the changing of rooms they were lost .The towel and wash cloth are no big deal I had washed them and hung them out to dry and Lou just didn’t recognize them as mine. The liner however was on top of my bed when I left for the hospital. It was nowhere to be found when we came back, but losing my silk liner is a big deal. It is all I have to sleep under at night. Sometimes the hostels have some blankets, sometimes they do not. I put all of the clothes I have with me on, covered the bottom half of me with Lou’s coat which was partially dry, at least inside and used my coat to cover the rest of me.

Bus miles 90

June 10 2010

Start: Burgos

Destination: Hornillos del Camino

It had started raining last night and continued this morning. We are brave, we are fearful, we are crazy! We packed up then found a small café where we got hot tea and croissants for breakfast. It was drizzling as we walked out later. The book said that today we would have very little shade and it could be a long hot walk.

It would have been had it not been pouring rain. Sometimes the rain came down in sheets and then let up only to hit us with bursts of gusts that kept taking my pack cover and my hat off. After an hour or so we stopped for a cup of hot chocolate. Talk about something tasting good.

Then it was back into the elements for another few hours before we stopped again for hot tea and a snack. It was nice and warm in the cafes which made getting back outside in the rain and wind twice as hard. Somehow I had gotten the towns confused and when we came to the small village of Hornillus del Camino I thought we were breaking for lunch. I thought we had another 2.5 kilometers to go before we were through for the day. This was a nice surprise. The next town was too far away for us to try to make and besides we were both soaking wet and tired of being blasted with rain and wind.

There was a nice fire going in the fireplace and we got our passport stamped. We know have enough stamps in our passports to collect our certificates in Santiago. The albueque was full so we were put over in the overflow room. There is one shower, a bathroom and a room with 7 bunks beds. The room is big enough for 4 bunk beds!

There was a heater by my bed and I got the point across that I wanted her to turn it on. She leaned over the bed, turned the switches and said” Now work.” Thankfully there were blankets on every bed. I grabbed two from close by bunks and prayed no one would come in and need a blanket. A Korean lady gave me hers since she had a sleeping bag. Durn, I used to have a nice sleeping bag, and a silk liner. Oh well!

I changed into dry clothes and lay down to dry and get warm. I thought I would never get my core temperature up to normal. I kept reaching up and messing with the heater knobs to no avail. It took close to an hour before I felt warm again. This group is the quietest group of hikers I have ever been with. Within a couple hours this room was full also and I am glad we got here when we did. We walked down the street to a little café (that is all they have here) and got supper.

I had pasta with tomatoes and breaded hack. Lots of bread and a glass of wine. Of course I couldn’t eat it all so Lou finished it up for me. He was supposed to save the piece of fish for tomorrow’s lunch, but he wolfed it down in a hurry, and then added dessert on top of that. Back in the bunkhouse I climbed under all the blankets and bid Lou good night. An early day for us and a short one.

Miles 12.4

June 11 2010

Start: Hornillus del Camoni

Destination: Castorjeriz

I purposely avoided looking out the window when I got up and packed up.There is no breakfast here so we were going to eat a power bar and hike until we found a nice place for an early lunch.

I groaned when I stepped outside. Once again it was cold, rainy, windy and miserable. But true to our nature we took a deep breath and dove right into the mud and started walking. Today we set a record. We were on the trail by 7:00 am. That is unusual for us since my day doesn’t begin until 8:00am.

So we slogged along eating our power bars and trying in vain to stay dry. Today I wished everyone a Buenos Aqua Camino which means Good Wet Way. And wet it was!

Today we travel the lonely meseta with only the sounds of nature to entertain us. It was too cold to take any breaks so we kept on walking. We got to the town of Hontanos. It had been almost an hour since it had rained and we were celebrating! The first two little bars we came to were full of hungry wet hikers with standing room only.

We plodded on down to the next one, it was the same. We were almost out of town and ready to turn around and go back when Lou stuck his head in the door of a little market. Lou is a big, tall guy and with his pack on he cannot go through most of these small doors. We hit pay dirt.

It was a tiny market but it had a cappuccino machine which said hot chocolate and hot tea to us! Lou took his pack off and we walked in. It felt like heaven! We greeted the manager who was wearing a Michigan State sweatshirt. Lou went to Michigan State. It was warm, dry and had one table and 3 bar stools. And it was empty!

The manager took his sweatshirt off and handed it to me. Oh man oh man what trail magic! The sweatshirt was warm and cozy. I was completed soaked. We started off with a couple homemade muffins, some hot drinks and a couple bananas. This was not a café but a tiny market with fresh produce. We are seating there when Lou spies some fresh eggs. Then he notices that there is a one burner stove against the wall. Well in two shakes of a lamb’s tail Lou had the guy frying up eggs, added bread and jam to the plate and proudly served us! It was a meal fit for a king in our eyes and we were warm and dry.

There is a small hostel here and we met a couple in their thirties that are hiking all over the world. She is from Hungary, he is from California. He sold all he owned two years ago and has been walking ever since. When money runs low, he simply finds a job for a few weeks! As does she. What a nomad life. It sounded good in theory but I am too old for that kind of adventure.

We took a 90 minute break, just talking to these young people and then stepped back out into reality. Cold, wet ,miserable. Just after lunch thankfully the rain stops and we are left with muddy roads, wet bodies and clothes and nothing but farm land to entertain us. Also not trees to hide behind. At one point we split up Lou on one side of the road, me over in some weeds on the other side of the road, taking a potty break.

We have saw very few vehicles all day. Wouldn’t you know it, just as I squatted down, this van comes barreling around the corner. He gets a look of Lou standing close to a tree and immediately turns his head towards the other side of the road. You want to guess what he saw? Yep, you are right, me in a full squat in plain sight of him. I simply did what anyone would do. I waved at him and waved and started laughing so hard I had no trouble finishing the job!

We came to the ruins of an old church and Lou thought it would be a good idea to climb up there and check it out. It would have been had it not been raining and had we taken our packs off first. I handed him my stick to help him up the bank. Then I had visions of him rolling down on top of me, so I made haste back down to the road. He never made it to the top.

We questioned why we didn’t take our packs off first. By early afternoon we had not had any rain for several hours. As we hiked into our hometown for the night, we passed a pilgrim taking on the phone. He caught up with us a while later and told me he recognized me. It was the hiker I ran into back in Pamplona.

I told him he was famous, and he asked why? I said because of us meeting two weeks ago in the motel. I said no because you wouldn’t let you granddaughter drive me to St.Jean. We hiked into the town of Castrojeriz and found the municipal hostel. Twenty five bunks in a room, six twin mattresses on the floor, shower, and a microwave. All for a donation. We grabbed two places on the floor and unpacked our stuff.

I would have taken a hot shower except I had no towel. On the Appalachian Trail the longest I went without a shower was 11 days. Maybe I will set a new record. I do have some little soaped disposable wipes. I wash the 3 main important places, in the right order mind you and say I am clean. There are blankets on the bed though, so I know I will be warm. There is a faint piece of blue sky outside so we hope for dry weather tomorrow. There is an outfitters here (town of 1,000) so after his manana time which is between 2 and 4 pm I will go and check out the sleeping bags and a towel!

Miles 13.4