The good time trail

The Camino from Sarria to Santiago is another polarizing stretch of trail. Everyone agrees that this stretch— the traditional minimum required to get a Compostela — is more crowded and that the crowds include large numbers of young people who seem at least as interested in partying and flirting as in contemplation and prayer. Some people find the crowds and the more raucous atmosphere off-putting.

For a short while, we walked behind a group of 20-something guys who sang a marching cadence that roughly translates to:
If I forget my backpack,
I won’t care
I only want to get drunk
In Compostela, I can get what I need

We also ate breakfast with a women’s field hockey team who were walking this stretch of the Camino as a training and team building experience.

Really, the Camino has been less crowded than most of the popular trails in Yosemite. Everyone is laughing and joking (and sometimes singing and dancing). I’m finding it fun and energizing to be caught up in the excitement after weeks of hard work.

I’m realizing that I missed several days of pictures so this post will be a bit of a photo dump.Read more