Post Pandemic Reboot - Camino del Norte - day 1

Today's photos.

Today I begin my 5th Camino, 5 years after my last one. This 1 is really important to having lost touch with many things during the pandemic. Lost touch is a good way of  saying this is.   lost touch with many people and developed habits of isolation and over use of screen time. On this Camino I plan to not use my phone except as needed, no email, no messaging.... I'd like to get lost in the walk instead of lost in screens and to do list.

This is 1 of the things that I found out about the Camino from the very beginning when I thought it was the hardest thing I ever did and then I realized it's 1 of the most delightful things to not have a to do list and to only have decisions that are when do I rest when do I stop for the day when do I stop to eat For the most part I don't even have to ask what direction to go as the trails on the caminos are well marked. There are many things about the Camino that are lessons for my life But as we know life doesn't come with a set of directions that we can easily follow and so it's easier to get lost. Everyday spending 6 - 10 hours hiking is a wonderful chance to have a deep conversation with oneself.... And occasionally some good arguments.😄

This morning when I woke up to start my 1st walk I checked the weather and found out it was going to be rainy and cooler than expected. Immediately when and shutdown mode and thought maybe I shouldn't do this or just go back to sleep and I can start again tomorrow. It's funny I think of the many times in my life when I'm about to start something new and challenging, or try to make a change in my life and how often comes the thought let's start tomorrow.

Luckily I got out of bed and went on the walk anyway. And just like in life The cooler less sunny weather turned out to be a blessing as today was a great day of training to get my body into shape to do the 12-20 miles a day of hiking that I'll be doing over the next 4-5 weeks.

Surprisingly at the end of the day while tired and a bit sore, I actually feel better than I expected to feel. I walk regularly about 5 miles a day multiple days a week but I certainly haven't done more than this in the last year. Today was sort of a training day as I only carried a small pk as my pk was waiting for me in the town that I ended in so tomorrow will be the real test When I have an additional 20 lbs on my back.

As I said the weather was actually a blessing as my energy stayed strong through most of the day even with much climbing and descents. On steep climbs my heart and lungs scream out and on steep descents my knees and feet scream.

Through the years I've learned to speak multiple languages including French German Italian and this year I focused on Spanish. One of the things I love about the caminos is getting to use all of these languages regularly.

Today while I largely got to walk alone which I prefer I did meet fellow pilgrims including Cloey from Scotland, Thomas from Bavaria Germany Yan from the Netherlands Lee from japan Angel from Spain and Sasha from France.

By far the best friend I made today was the new stick I found in the forest right before the 1st real descent It is become a habit for me to find a stick on my 1st few days that I carry through the whole walk and I've always brought that stick home as my souvenir of the Camino. I'm hoping I found the perfect stick cause he's made of birch so he's very light but I think he's strong enough to take me all the way the 500 miles to Santiago.

I was feeling especially good as I past over the half way mark and was taking a quick ferry across a short straight and then as I got off the ferry I remembered that there was a huge climb about to come and it was with stairs, so very steep.  I stopped counting at 250 steps not because I can't count higher but I was starting to lose energy. Of course the second half proved to be much more challenging as I spent most of my energy for the day but thankfully I had my stick to help me on the way down and took frequent breaks on the way up. But I will tell you on the last way down into San Sebastian If my knees and feet were married to me I would be getting a divorce now LOLS

Another thing surprising to me is

that I didn't eat a lot today I only ate a banana and several coffees along the way This is not a good idea I guess I just wasn't in pilgrim or hiking mode I will do better. I always carry a lunch pail with me just in case they aren't cafes a long way which includes usually some protein likes nuts or meat some cheese maybe some bread and sweet snacks. No I didn't need I kept well hydrated and drank over a l of water.

Until tomorrow. Buen camino!