The halfway celebrations continue

Sahagun, enterprisingly, has attempted to corner the midpoint market. While it might not be geographically correct if you started in SJPP, it offers two lovely opportunities to mark the occasion - an arch near the city, and a halfway certificate (Carta Peregrina) at the Sanctuary of the Pilgrim Virgin. Pretty certain they made this certificate up to get people to visit this sanctuary but whatever, it worked.

I bush-bashed the approach because I didn't know you could take a more demure path if you went round the block. It was going well until I encountered basically a dry moat between me and the sanctuary. I said to myself 'you probably should have gone round' as I started my descent.

I promptly fell down the hill. I've spent nearly a decade teaching new skaters not to fall backwards so muscle memory kindly ensured I smashed down onto my knees, with the weight of my backpack then pushing me flat onto my stomach so it looked like I was attempting to skeleton the slope. Getting up from that position is actually quite hard, it involved a bit of rolling.

Casually adjusting my straps and hoping I could get the grass stain out, I admitted aloud 'you DEFINITELY should have gone round' and then, humbled, went and got my certificate.

You'll look at this photo of it and you'll like it, because lord knows whether it'll make it home in one piece. It's currently sandwiched between medical letters in the water bladder pocket of my pack, and I wish it well.Read more