The Escalante River - Hard Work

Friday May 24th we drove to the town of Escalante, Utah.  I rode with Roger, Debbie rode with Randy.   We stayed at the Escalante campground across from visitor center.  We had dinner at Circle D restaurant.

Saturday we drove to Egypt trailhead. Amazingly, someone volunteered to carry two loads down the hill for us!!  We walked down, but got off trail, and ended up in canyon, when we should have been on the ridge. Debbie and I dropped our packs at 2/3 point, headed back to the trailhead, and ran shuttle. We both had awful heavy packs on the way down; I arrived at camp at dusk, exhausted. Everyone was tired, so we did no cooking.

Sunday AM we packed boats, got on the water about 11:30. Randy and Debbie experimented with loading their packrafts.  The river was nice, with some scraping and maneuvering. We made the short hike to the Golden Cathedral in Neon canyon.  We camped on the bar across from 25 mile canyon.

Randy, Roger, and Debbie

Monday. The weather was nice at first, then hard rain and wind. We saw many waterfalls. I started to get hypothermia by Baker canyon, shivering, so we stopped and set up my tent.  I should have brought my dry suit; the inflatable kayak is a colder and wetter boat than my canoe.  The side creek ran high. The rain stopped in the evening.

Scorpion Rapid

Tuesday was partly cloudy and warmer. We had some adventures. I fell out of my boat once. At Scorpion rapid, our plan was to eddy out left.  I was first and did that.  Roger eddied out a bit upstream. The rapid looked crazy to me. There were people on shore urging us to run it. Amazingly, everybody disregarded the plan and followed the advice of people we did not know. Randy flipped and his boat disappeared downstream. Roger flipped at the end.  I portaged, and still flipped on the lower section. We headed downstream, hoping to find Randy’s boat and gear, and making contingency plans. Miraculously, we found the boat half a mile downstream. We headed for George’s camp at mile 57, but ended up across the river.  9 miles today, a good number on this river.  The rangers came to camp around 7:30, and we invited them to stay, which they did. Their packs were impressively small. We pumped them for information.

Wednesday the river was down a few inches, and we scraped a lot.  Sometimes it felt like we were the ball in pinball.  The mandatory portage was a lot of work, perhaps 75 yards. We camped across from Fools canyon, a good camp, but not a good takeout. We made 10 miles.

Steven's Arch

Thursday. The weather was warmer and drier.  The river was down a little more. We got on the river earlier. There was some running aground, and pinballing off rocks. We got to Coyote Canyon about 1 PM, and walked up the stream bed to camp, 5 minutes up the canyon.   I scouted the route out; to get out of the canyon involves scrambling on downsloping rock and sand, with significant exposure.

Another party hauling packs at the crack

Friday. We left camp around 8. On the rock section, I ended up shuttling everyone's pack. The hike to Crack in the Wall was brutal, heavy loads, multiple carries, uphill on sand, the hottest day of the trip, and we ran out of water.  Crack in the wall was a bit of a social event, groups cooperating to move loads through that section, including ropes.

Richard in crack

Looking down from Crack in Wall

We left much of the gear at the top of the canyon, to be carried the next day.  We all agreed that it was the hardest day we could remember. Everyone was exhausted.    We spent 11 hours hauling gear, and camped in the parking lot.

Tha last part of the hike out

Saturday. We spent 8 AM to 1 PM hauling gear back to car. So it took us 16 hours of work to haul our boats and gear out of the canyon.  We stayed in Escalante at Circle D motel, with dinner at the restaurant. We took a stroll down main street; many of the buildings had historical markers on them.

Sunday - We had breakfast at the Circle D, and drove home without incident.

After the trip, there did not seem to be much enthusiasm for pack rafting, partly because we would all need new ultralight gear, in order to be able to haul in a single load.   The double hauls mean that you have to travel three times the distance.   People liked the river, but would not come back if we had to hike in and hike out.

Castrojerez - The End

Thursday I walked almost 20 km to Hontanas, where I stayed in a nice private refugio. At the pilgrim mass, I was drafted to do the first reading, in English.  The other readings were in French and Korean. The church had a nice meditation area, with cushions and candles. I had dinner with the sisters from France,  and gave them copper shells. 

Walking through the meseta was quite beautiful, farm fields in rolling hills. Some people do not like the meseta, but I liked it very much.

Friday was a short walk to Castrojerez, including a quick look at the ruined church of San Anton.   I was in a nice private refugio, where the owner was quite a character.   Karina and I walked up the hill to the castle, variously built and rebuilt in the 9th and 14th centuries, with a foundation dating to Roman times. The town was relatively tidy, but had some ruined structures.  After dinner at the refugio, our host had us demonstrate how the wine press worked; the wine press was in the building when he bought it.  Then he took us down two levels in the cellar, for a wine tasting.  He has been excavating, uncovering more stairs, etc. 

This is the end of the Camino for me, at least for 2019. Saturday I will take a bus to Burgos, and then rent a car to get to Atapuerca for the tour.

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Burgos and beyond

Tuesday, I walked from Atapuerco to Burgos, approximately 19 km. We took an alternate route, and we got a little bit lost, but ultimately we found the park by the river. The park by the river was quite pleasant to walk in.  I had wanted to stay in a Christian refugio, but I stopped by twice,  and the door was locked. I was able to pick up my package at the post office general delivery, so  that was good. I checked into the Hotel Cordon and took a nap. Tomorrow needs to be a shorter day as I am getting tired, after several days around 20km. 

I inquired about tours of Atapuerca, and the bus tours are booked. I booked a tour on Saturday, but will need a taxi or rental car to get there. 

The Cathedral is huge and amazing.  I cannot even get my head around the cathedral, it is so big and impressive. I went to the pilgrims mass at the Cathedral, where I ran into many of the people who I had been walking with. I gave Anneta from Denmark and Ben and Julia from Toronto the shells that I had brought. We had a nice dinner at the Meson Herrera.  I said goodbye; Anneta is going home, and Ben and Julia are taking the train to Leon, as Julia has been sick. 

Anneta, Ben, and Julia, with their shells
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On Wednesday, I decided that I needed a short day, so I walked to Rabe de las Calzadas.  The private refugio had images of Mary, and our hostess invited us to pray with the nuns after dinner. Some of us went to the convent, and the nuns did their evening prayers.  Most of the nuns were elderly. The head nun, Maria Teresa, noticed my hammered copper scallop shell, and we talked at length about possible sculptures.  But it would be impractical to ship a large sculpture to Spain. 

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Santo Domingo de la Calzada towards Burgos

82 year old Frenchman

The walk to Santo Domingo was 20 km, about 12 miles;  the weather was breezy, cool, and sunny.  I walked for a while with an 82 year old man from Paris; he left me in the dust.  There were a couple of long hills, but not bad. I checked into a hostal, (hotel) where I have a private room. 

The church is magnificent, as was their museum. It is focused on the life of their saint. There was a very cute and large scale life of the saint using plastic characters.

One of the saint's miracles included having cooked chicken crow, so a chicken is a common symbol for the saint. There are even live chickens above a side altar. The saint was very devoted to helping pilgrims to Santiago. This is the 1000th anniversary of the birth of the saint; this is a jubilee year here. 

 I went to a Vatican choir concert, which I was lucky enough to see.  I had dinner with a German guy; we talked about life, and why we were on camino. 

Santo Domingo is very nice and very tidy, lots of activity on the streets. 

On Saturday, I walked 12km to Castildelgado. I had planned to stay there, but I was disconcerted to learn the only bar was closed on Saturday, and the tiny store closes at 2 pm. However, I waited for the very nice refugio to open, and learned that they cook dinner.   The refugio Bideluxe has a very nice garden area; they washed my clothes, one of the reasons that I chose it.   This was the nicest refugio yet.  

On Sunday, I was first out the door, at dawn, to find a 9 AM mass in Belorado.  When I arrived, I kept asking where the mass was, and finally found the monastery of the Santa Clarissa cloistered nuns. Their singing was quite beautiful. The nuns were behind a metal grill, which they opened for mass, and closed after. The photo showed the closing. I was with Anneta, the Danish kindergarten teacher, who was quite moved by the singing. 

I continued to Villafranca Montes de Oco, where I took a room in a 13th century monastery, now converted to a hotel and refugio. I walked 22km;  I plan to walk 18 km tomorrow, hoping to get to Burgos Tuesday afternoon. 

The camino is a bit of a moving village. You tend to see and have dinner with the same people, day after day, such as the couple from Toronto, Alan and Paula from New Zealand, Patricia the German lady, the Dutch lady, the French group, etc. 

One surprise is that I am speaking more French than Spanish; there are few Spanish pilgrims, unlike in 2002. Amazingly, a couple of people have said that my French was good!

Monday I was on the trail early to Atapuerca, 18 km.  The climb immediately turned very steep, but flattened out later. 

Marker for mass grave

One somber note was the marker for the mass grave from 1936, from the Spanish Civil War; Franco forces executed 300 people. 

There is a UNESCO world heritage site in Atapuerca, a paleontology digging site, but unfortunately it is closed on Monday.

I am staying in a private room at a bar Palomar. 

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Feeling good - Los Arcos to Najera

Los Arcos to Najera

Tuesday I walked most of the day  with a couple from Brazil, São Paulo, very nice. This helped me make it as far as Viana, 18km. It felt good to be walking and feeling OK. I was somewhat tired and sore for the last hour or so. The weather was overcast, with spitting  rain.

Since I had not slept well the previous night, I decided to check into a hotel in Viana, the Hostal San Pedro.  I had a nice lunch, unexpectedly, with a German pilgrim, and her German Kurd  boyfriend. They met Tango dancing.  I went to the pilgrim mass in Viana, and attended a Jesus meditation at a pilgrim gathering center.

Wednesday I walked most of the morning with Karina, a Dutch Social worker. In Logroño, it felt too early in the day to quit, so I pressed on.  In the afternoon, I walked with Lejandro. He is an engineer from South Paulo who is taking a year off, to travel the world.   Total distance today, 22km. 

I have entered La Rioja, the premier wine region in Spain. 

I am so happy that I feel good and that I can walk more than a few km. I am also seeing again certain people that I had seen before, including my Irishman from Derry. 

Hitting my stride, I think. 

I stayed in a refugio In Navarrete with a private room, and a bath down the hall, 20€. There were only three of us in the whole place. 

Thursday, the walk to Najera was 16 km, over the small pass, El Alto de San Anton. Vineyards dominate the landscape. It had rained overnight, but in the morning it was cool, sunny and windy;  we could see fresh snow on the distant peaks. 

In Najera I visited the very good Monastery museum, with the tomb of kings and queens, and another amazing altarpiece. 

I stayed in a regular refugio, the Puerta de Najera, so bunk beds, 8 to a room. It was full; A private room tomorrow sounds good.   I attended the 8 pm pilgrim mass, where the priest invited each of us to go up on the altar, and ring the bell.

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Starting to walk

On Friday I walked to the bus station to catch the  early bus to Estella.  But there was no early bus due to the holiday. I met an Aussi going to the same town.  We waited for the ticket office to open, and got on the 10 am bus.  

I was really dragging when I started walking in Estella. When I sat down, someone stopped and asked if I was OK, so I must have looked bad. I ended up calling and getting a reservation at a nice private refugio in Azqueta, La Perla Negra. I slept until dinner. Dinner at the refugio was the United Nations, Croatia, Brazil, Ireland, Argentina, and more. The crowd was mostly young people, although the nice Irish  lady was 71.  The conversations tended to be in English; the guy from Argentina felt excluded until I asked him in Spanish where he was from. 

Sandi was worried about me, since I was having a hard time. My concern was that there was a bar and refugio at 2 km, in Villamayor de Monjardin, and then nothing for the next 12 km. I resolved to walk the 2 km and decide then. There was a solid climb to the town, and I was dragging. I laid down at the top of the hill. It was obvious that I should stop. I waited for Oasis Trails, the Christian refugio, to open; I was the first pilgrim, and was greeted warmly.  I chatted with other pilgrims while waiting, especially the Irish pilgrim from Derry.   I slept in the afternoon; someone woke me up for dinner.  The dinner was another United Nations.   One of the pilgrims was a 91 year old Frenchman!  His advice was to profit from everything, but not too much of anything.

This refugio is run by a Christian  nondenominational community. I went to their Christian meditation;  I told a couple of the hosts that I was struggling, and they suggested that I stay another night, which is not normally allowed. They also prayed for me. 

I decided that I would stay another night; this will also let me go to the afternoon Easter mass in the village. I hope to be well enough to resume walking on Monday. 

After a day of rest, I felt much better. I also appreciated the emotional and spiritual support of the group.

 I got on the trail Monday morning at dawn. It was a quiet morning with light fog and overcast, but cleared out with the sun. I arrived in Los Arcos after three hours of walking; It felt good to be walking without struggling. I walked 12 km today;  I will walk no further today, since I am recovering. 

The church in Los Arcos is pretty amazing inside, over the top, in a mix of styles. 

I am staying in the Casa de Abuela private refugio, sharing a room with folks from Holland and Toronto. 

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A rough start

The trip started, like many trips. with a middle of the night alarm, a bus ride to the Dever airport in the dark, and some anxiety. 

As as the plane loaded, I saw backbacks with scallop shells shoved into overhead bins.  The family was headed to Geneva Switzerland to start on the way to Santiago. They admitted that they might take a bus at times. 

I had a long layover in the United Club in the Newark airport. The terminal looked shiny and new, but there were no maps of the terminal anywhere!  A work in progress. 

When I headed for the gate, I chatted with Don, also going on Camino. He will start in Pamplona, near where I will start. I may see him on the trail. 

The person in the seat next to me was a university student in Infomatica (computers), from the Canary Islands. The Canary Islands are near Africa but part of Spain. She was on her way back to school, after a vacation in Cuba   

I watched TV programs that I had never seen, including my first episode of Game of Thrones, and a documentary on Meow Wolf. 

I enjoyed a visit to the archaeological myseum. The rock art shown is similar that of the US Southwest. 

I took a nap in the afternoon, but later got sick, and hardly slept. As a consequence, I overslept and missed my train. There were no train tickets to be had, but I was able to get a bus ticket. I just felt trashed.   When I got to Pamplona, I checked into a single room in the Hotel Eslava, and slept most of the afternoon. I decided to stay a second night, try to recover. 

The photo is of the busy streets of the old city. 

I slept most of Thursday, and went to a very high Holy Thursday mass, with washing of the feet. The church was standing room only.   I start walking Friday. 

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