Day 2.9/38: May 6, 2017 Molinaseca to Ponferrada

Ponferrada, Spain and Canary Islands

9.31km; 1:57hr; 17500 steps; 66m elevation gain

Well my Camino is over.

Actually it was over yesterday when I closed the gap I left last year as I rejoined the Camino at the Cruz de Ferro.

We slept late, knowing that there was no particular rush to get into Ponferrada. I wanted to see the castle with Lisa. Then I would have to catch the train to Madrid, and then a flight to Dubai, then Riyadh. How's that for contrast and culture shock?!

As I remembered, the castle in Ponferrada is super cool. The physical structure is remarkable and fascinating, although the audio guide narration is a bit of a snooze. The true treasure is in the Templar Library and it's collection of illustrated manuscripts. Last year when I was here, there was a display of medieval Camino maps. I love maps and looked at these for probably an hour. When you consider them as navigation tools, they're pretty sketchy and it's remarkable that anyone ever got to Santiago. You would do as well just following the sun, or for the romantics, following the Milky Way to the end of the earth.

This is what I set out to do last May when I started out in St Jean Pied de Port: follow the Milky Way across Spain to the world's end. Now I have done it.

I am lucky. While there were some blisters, some sleepless nights, some sore legs, a few wrong turns, and a lost credit card; overall I fared pretty well. Even my decision to skip a central segment last year was turned out well. This allowed me to return this year with my good friend Lisa, and experience the Camino in a completely different frame of reference. Most importantly I was able to celebrate again. Most pilgrims only get to complete their Camino once, as they walk into Santiago. I was able to celebrate three times: first walking into Santiago, then walking into the ocean at Finisterre, now closing the gap at the Cruz de Ferro.

Being compulsive, I collected data along the way. The journey segments laid out end to end sum up to 572.3 miles (921 Km), though it was 616.9 miles if you include the walking around in town. My phone tells me that I took 1,443,597 steps along the way and spent 225.4 hours hiking, climbing the equivalent of 1,394 flights of stairs.

It is harder to quantify, or qualify what I've learned along the road. Certainly I met a lot of great people, but we will all now drift away into our separate lives. I've picked up some very rudimentary Spanish, which I will hope to improve. Most important I've learned that I am stronger and more self-reliant than I knew, but I think we all rise to the occasion when circumstance demands it.

In the end, there was no great epiphany, or consolidated message to pull the experience together. I think it would degrade the experience to try to sum it up in a trite, pithy phrase. Friends have asked why I chose to do this, and I've never had an answer. The answer still eludes me. But, that is not to say that the quest was a failure. I realize that despite the pain, frustration and wrong turns: I loved it!

An acquaintance who has been following this blog wrote me an email which informed me of other pilgrim trails in Norway and France. I had never been aware of any other pilgrim trails, although I knew there are many other pilgrimage routes leading to Santiago. That said, I am not sure I want another spiritually-themed quest. Right now I think Ara had the right idea when he suggested the Camino de Vino Tinto.

So that is the end of this road, and this blog (I'll write one more post with my recommendations for anyone who wants to try their hand at this madness).

As I noted last year, ends are beginnings, and from here there are infinite possibilities and roads, each with lessons to learn. So let's strap on a pack, and keep going!

Buen Camino Peregrinos!