Reset search
Camino FrancesCamino Frances
SatelliteEdit route

Camino Frances

September 2023
A pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. CJ and I will begin our journey on 9/3/23 and begin the Camino Frances trail bright and early 9/6/2023 Read more
  • 21footprints
  • 3countries
  • 23days
  • 300photos
  • 3videos
  • 4.6kmiles
  • 4.1kmiles
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • Brian SmithCamino Frances
    Day 1

    Taking Off!

    September 3, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 91 °F

    Our journey begins with the flight to Paris. We will land in the morning then a late afternoon flight to Biarritz where we will spend the night. From there we will train it to St Jean Pied de Porte which is where the Camino Frances starts! We plan to start the walk Wednesday .Read more

  • Brian SmithCamino Frances
    Day 2

    Paris airport layover

    September 4, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F

    Long layover in Paris airport on our way to Biarritz for the night…. Paris airport has its perks….Free Wi-Fi that is fast, charging stations all over the place , fountains inside, Starbucks , baguettes and …..a smoking room! ( place was packed!) .
    Flight over was uneventful , 6 hour time difference will hit us later today as we didn’t sleep much. We did spot many potential pilgrims in the airport, large backpacks and hiking clothes are the tip-off!    Read more

  • Brian SmithCamino Frances
    Day 2

    Biaritz, France

    September 4, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 88 °F

    A cool coastal town in southern France. From here we will take a train to St Jean Pied De Porte. Our plan was to have dinner at the hotel and then crash but the hotel restaurant was closed so we went into the town and had dinner right on The Bay of Biscay. food was great and the view was very calming which is good as we have less than 48 hours before the walking begins! BTW in the photo is Eden Rock. Very large rock!Read more

  • Brian SmithCamino Frances
    Day 3

    Saint Jean Pied De Port

    September 5, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 88 °F

    We have arrived at the starting point of the Camino Frances. Saint Jean has a population of just 1500 but serves the needs of over 50,000 pilgrims per year. In 2022 , a little over 52,000 pilgrims began their pilgrimage here. While France had the highest number of pilgrims, the US was second with about 7200. The town is known for its narrow streets and was the ancient capital of the Basque region of Basse-Navarre.
    We checked in at the pilgrims office , registered and received our official pilgrimage passports. This will be used throughout the trip. A pilgrim needs to have their passport stamped throughout their journey as evidence of their pilgrimage. In Santiago , pilgrims present their passport to the office to receive the official Compostela !

    We are staying at a hostel , Gite Compostella just a few clicks out of the city center.
    At 700 am tomorrow we will begin. As Saint Jean sits at the base of the Pyrenees , our first day will be up the Pyrenees (highest elevation is about 4500 feet) and then about a third of the way down where we will pass into Spain and arrive at our destination, Roncesvalles. About a 16 mile trip for the day . The first two days of the pilgrimage are said to be the most challenging so excited to get started!
    Cj and I will debate tomorrow ‘s starting point at dinner tonight. The official starting point is a little past the pilgrims office and our hostel is further down the Camino path. Since we have technically already traveled that part of the path shall we go back to the starting point again or shall we just go forward from our hostel…hmmmm….    Read more

  • Brian SmithCamino Frances
    11
    Day 4

    Day 1 -St Jean to Roncevalles

    September 6, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 77 °F

    We got started at 7am , as the first part of the walk was thru the city of St Jean. The first stop for the day would be Orisson which is about 5 miles. While you are going up the mountain at the end of the first 3 miles I said to myself, this isn’t so bad , I can do this….. Well the next 2 miles is what people must be talking about:…Straight up for the next 2 miles , asphalt for the most part with a little of gravel path toward the end. It was a bit tough but in a good way. It’s your first day so the adrenaline certainly helps! At the 5 mile mark is a great hostel that has a restaurant that serves food and drink to all…Very timely! Many stay there for their day 1 end point but we were headed to Roncevalles a mere 10 more miles. At Orisson we were at 2700 feet so half the elevation was complete. With 10 miles for the second half, so must be less strenuous …. Wrong:) It’s all about when the elevation is on those next 10! All kidding aside the walk was challenging but not a killer. You will see many overlook pics primarily because I kept saying we must be at the top take a picture…well we weren’t at the top…. It just kept going! Then we did finally hit the top and started coming down. That’s when I confirmed that I really like going up better!
    Many gorgeous views along the way. The Pyrenees have a great mix of field and forest. Forest is mostly beech trees that are very cool to look at. Many goats, sheep , cattle and horses grazing the fields on the mountain. The horses had cow bells on their necks… first time I have seen a horse bell .
    About 5 or 6 miles into this section was another timely placed food truck that sure came in handy.
    We arrived at our end point in about 7.5 hours. Little over 16 miles traveled and according to my Fitbit 41,000 steps. Our hotel is right next to the towns church and had just started their daily pilgrim mass. Beautiful church packed with pilgrims!
    Tomorrow will be another 17 mile day but we came out of day 1 pretty good with no major pains just some minor aches. All in all great day. Lots of great thoughts and conversations along the way. Met folks from UK, Australia, France , Spain and South Korea . Only 1 from the US. She lives in Oregon.    Read more

  • Brian SmithCamino Frances
    Day 5

    Day 2- Roncevalles to Larrasona

    September 7, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 84 °F

    So today according to the guide books was to be one of the tougher days but CJ and I both agree , much more reasonable than yesterday. We traveled from Roncevalles to the quaint little town of Larrasona. According to my Fitbit we walked 20 miles but the maps would tell you 17 so I guess the extra is when we walk around the towns and such. for the record it was a 45,200 step day.It is actually more than that but MY FITBIT DIED! Now is not the time for it to bomb on me but alas it did. Good news is tomorrow we will pass through a larger town, Pamplona and as luck would have it there are several stores there that sell them.
    This was a much more traditional walk as we left a bit before sun up and walked to the next town about 2 miles or so and had breakfast. Wonderful coffee baguette sandwiches and croissants. Gives us the much need caffeine and carbs to get going. We then traveled to the next town and visited a local market and picked up the food for the rest of the day. CJ is really good at hydration and food intake. He is constantly reminding me to drink and instead of a lunch we have 2 breaks on the trail where we snack . It works very well to keep us fueled throughout the walk.
    Today we were more in the sun than yesterday and it was a bit warmer but still great walking weather. We did stop for a coffee midday and reconnected with Roy our 75 year old Brit that we met yesterday. This is his second Camino and as he says he is a bit slower but he gets it done! We also met 2 men from Australia who watched the movie The Way and decided to do the walk. They also have their eye on the AT so Cj had some fun filling them in on how that compares to this.
    Everyone says how social the pilgrims are during this pilgrimage. So far it seems that everyone is social at cafes and albergue’s but on the trail it is heads down walking with the occasional grunt:).
    We are staying at what’s called a Pension tonight…not sure how they got the name pension but they do have a dinner tonight with and it looks like about 8 pilgrims are attending so will be fun meeting some new people.
    Lastly when you walk you have a lot of time to think and ponder things. Today my thoughts where on material needs and/ versus material wants. So for the last several days all I “need “is in my backpack ….and I haven’t really wanted for anything else except for that new Fitbit:) … I will continue to ponder this but I have wanted and acquired so many things throughout my life yet here I am with all I “need” on my back … and loving it!    Read more

  • Brian SmithCamino Frances
    11
    Day 6

    Day 3-Larrasone to Zariquiegui

    September 8, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    Well I am going to give a name to this day. I will call it “River ran dry”. We set out at our normal time and we had about 10 miles to Pamplona, the city where they run the bulls!. The entire way we followed Rio Argo river and was the most delightful section we have walked so far. The river has its twists and turns which we followed and the river ran fast in parts and slow in others. Weather was perfect in the morning and CJ had picked up the pace a bit so I was taking up the rear for most of the morning. We stopped at a cafe about 4 miles in and sure enough our man Ray was there. 3rd time he tells us that we won’t see him again as he is slow but I am not believing that!
    We arrived in Pamplona which is a large city and the trail crawls right thru the center of the city and its downtown area. Kind of funny to have the sweaty crowd with backpacks walking with the city shoppers. My goal of purchasing a new Fitbit did not pan out as the 3 places I went to that online say they sell them don’t so I got a cheap one that will do most of the job till I get home.
    After that search was over we discussed and both of us did not want to see more of the city so we choose to push on.
    As we were leaving the city , there was a very large group of people centered around a large building ( you will see the pic) and they were waiting for some sort of event. The place was crawling with the national police and they were on the rooftops guarding as well so I will assume that some important people were involved in the event. The problem was the people were all crowded on the Camino route so we were challenged to push through the crowd with our packs… I had stored my walking sticks in my bag but was tempted to pull them out at one point :) we finally got thru the crowd and on our way. We never did figure out what the event was.

    Leaving Pamplona took awhile as it is a large city but once we got out it was really hot, dry desert type land and the last water fountain before we entered the last 6 mile stretch was out of order. In addition the last 3 miles was on a very long uphill section.
    SO the “ran dry” part was me, about 3/4 of a mile from our destination I crapped out. CJ was zipping in front of me so I just let him go. BTW the last 3/4 was all uphill.
    At this point I was out of water , totally drained of energy….but I was carrying a banana which saved the day. Sat in the shade had the banana ( the video I took was from that spot!)and then tackled the hill. At the top of the hill was the entrance to the town and there is CJ sitting right next to the towns water fountain right at the front gate of the city with a huge smile on his face …I drank 2 liters:) Lesson for the day is to eat and drink more:)

    Total Miles for the day was 16.25 ….will start the step count again tomorrow:)

    So my reflection for the day( mostly in the morning) was about how the little things matter when you hike. Moved water from left to right side as my right side was hurting, it worked.. move the shoulder straps down as my neck was killing me, reduced that ache, had various pains and used the poles differently to take the pressure off.. it worked several times…. All in all they were little adjustments that had major impact. In the end , the little things in life matter and I need to pay better attention to them as small adjustments can have big impacts .

    Tomorrow we are planning another 16 mile day, CJ is a little worried that it may too much so we have a backup plan but it will be hot again tomorrow so we are going to leave an hour earlier . Will get to walk with head lamps …. Never done that before!    Read more

  • Brian SmithCamino Frances
    Day 7

    Day 4- Zariquiegui to Lorca

    September 9, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 86 °F

    Well the name of today will be “Kodak Moment” . From the moment we started it was nothing but one picture worthy view to another. Sunrises, landscapes, bridges , grape vines etc etc. It is a challenge to get the walk in with all of this beauty surrounding us.Not to mention the fig trees all over that kept CJ full of snacks!
    So we got the early start this morning and had the head lamp hiking experience which was really interesting and lead me to my first pondering idea for the day( more on that later). The walk started with a good uphill climb and we got to the top right as the sun was rising over Pamplona. Couple of pics of that as it was magical. At the peak there are the metal pilgrim statues as well. The funny thing is atop that mountain ridge are many windmills . Kind of odd to see modern technology aside a centuries old trail.

    At this point we began the descent as the sun was rising which was good as it was rocky and steep. CJ gave me some more walking stick mgmt lessons because my trapezius muscles were killing me. Took a bit to get used to the new techniques but it did seem to rescue the strain. One of the tips was to relax my death grip on the polls and to stop trying to stab the earth to death:) my forcefulness with the poles was transferring to much of the pressure on my trapezius

    During the descent I encountered injury number 1 . My foot went one way and my knee went the other way. Not too terrible but definitely tweaked. 5 or so miles after that stopped at a phamarcy and got some ibuprofen which is helping . Right now downhill still has some discomfort but flat and uphill is ok.

    We cruised thru the first 13kms and along the way walked with a group of four for a bit. 1 lady from Holland, 2 guys from Slovia and 1 guy from N Carolina. He lives about 2 miles from CJ. Go figure …. they had started there day at 4 am so we said good bye when they stopped for breakfast as we had a few more km’s to get in.
    At the halfway point of the day we found a great breakfast place and took our break to feed and hydrate. I had done a much better hydration job today and had a few snacks before we left so my energy level was good. CJ explained that he was getting his hiking legs so don’t be surprised if I zip out ahead. No problem slow and steady was good for me! So I followed him quite a bit today.
    Our lunch was in Manura which was a really quaint town and we went to a restaurant a bit off the trail and you could tell they were surprised to have pilgrims come in for lunch. The food was great and they were hospitable but even though I don’t know Spanish I could tell the guys at the bar were having some fun with our appearance:)

    Then we set out for the afternoon walk which again was in very sunny and hot weather and without a lot of shade. We cracked out our sun umbrellas and they helped a lot. Mostly small up and downs until we got to our destination. Why is it we always pick a place straight up a freaking hill to get to…..erghhh

    We checked into our albergue and the two guys we bunked with last night came into the place like 10 minutes after us! They are from Germany and no English so we smile and laugh with each other…

    We just planned tomorrow and it’s going to be a long day as the way the towns layout and some impending rain we have to get 18 miles in tomorrow (30 kms). I will keep the ibuprofen up tonight so that we can accomplish this. As a reward CJ is looking for hotels or pensions to stay tomorrow night. Not that I don’t like bunk beds in a room with 20 other people but I plan to be cranky tomorrow:)

    So my mind this morning was on the topic of not knowing what is ahead that I need to plan for. My whole life I have always looked ahead and developed plan a, b, c etc etc. it drives Susan nuts. When you are walking up a mountain in the dark with nothing but a head lamp., guess what. ….You can’t see what is ahead, you can’t create plans …. You just move forward and deal with it as it comes and you know what, worked out just fine, Susan you were right:) It will take me sometime to get to that approach in total but it was pretty cool to be able to do that this morning and the irony hit me right then hence my pondering.
    My second pondering was early afternoon when we were leaving a town and CJ stopped and said, …”Dad look at that mountain with the wind turbines…. That’s where we’re this morning” When I looked I said to myself …holy crap that is far away. Most of the time I look forward and the past is the past. When you are hiking and you can see the tangible result of the past , it then leads me to think about taking the time to look back and feel good about what I have accomplished . I rarely if ever do that but it did feel important to take that moment today and savor the victory. Thanks to CJ for that!

    Off to the pilgrims dinner and then to hopefully a good night sleep!    Read more

  • Brian SmithCamino Frances
    2
    Day 7

    Day 4 con’t

    September 9, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    Just some pics!

  • Brian SmithCamino Frances
    111
    Day 8

    Day 5- Lorca to Los Arcos

    September 10, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F

    So the best name for today is …. Survival:)
    Knee is still acting up but tried numerous ways throughout the day to walk in less discomfort. Kept the ibuprofen up as well.
    We started at 545am as we were going to go from Lorca to Los Arcos a 30km(18 miles) walk. last night we had a lot of thunderstorms that dumped a bunch of rain so we knew it was going to be a sloppy day. As it turns out it wasn’t as muddy as I thought it would be but still a lot of puddles and mud to navigate.
    The day started with an uphill section and we got thru it before the sun was up. Sunrise was unremarkable and we were making good time . We joined another group for a bit , a Brit,Canadian, and Australian. Very nice people and we shared experiences, stories and reasons. They stopped for breakfast and we powered in planing on brunch. A bit before our brunch we came upon the famous wine fountain. It was 10 am or so but CJ did sample the wine. I have included a picture of the sign next to it that answers the question of how do you put free wine out?
    BTW their is a typo on the sign so see if you can find it.
    Our designated stopping point was Villlamayor de Monjardin. It sits up on a hill and has the most incredible views that were worth the 600 ft incline we walked to get there. Quaint little shop that makes I guess what you would call a modified baguette panini sandwich. It was divine( pic included in case susan wants to make them in the future:) )
    From that town to Los arcos is basically farmland that has some ups and downs but mostly flat. It was afternoon so a bit hot but a nice breeze. Most of the pics come from that section.
    I did not ponder much today as I was focused on getting the walk completed without any further damage to the knee so let’s just say on was focused on survival today:) I think I was successful with that but will know more in the morning. We are planning a short day tomorrow, about 10 miles , so we shall sleep in a bit tomorrow and hopefully the time will help heal the aches and pains!
    Lastly I did include an animal pic I got today that kind of sums up my pace today!    Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English