Several years ago, I read a book called God of Surprises. The author wrote about his experience on the famous pilgrimage route through northern Spain, affectionately known as the Camino. It's official name is the Camino de Santiago de Compostela - The Way of St. James of Compostela. It turns out that the Camino de Santiago has many, many routes, although the most well-known one begins in southern France and ends at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain. I did a bit more reading on the Camino and met several people who had hiked the route. It was a spiritual experience. It was a struggle. It transformed lives. It sounded fascinating to me.
It also sounded very doable - 40 days to hike 800 km - 20 km a day was feasible. Plus, there were hostels along the way where you could stay for a very small fee. No need to carry a tent or cooking equipment. It sounded like a very civilized trail. But that also means that every year, tens of thousands of people travel the route, usually in the spring and fall.
I decided that I would hike the Camino. I wanted to experience 40 days of walking with nothing more than what I could carry in my backpack. I wanted to live simply. I wanted to be open to a sense of discovery. So, I signed up with the Canadian association of Camino pilgrims and received the passport that you present at each hostel. It is this passport, and the stamps from each hostel, that will earn you a certificate at the end of the pilgrimage. I bought a patch with the image of a seashell on it, the symbol of a Camino pilgrim. I decided that I would have to learn Spanish as well. I decided that I would also need to save enough money to pay for the flight, a train ride, meals and accommodation along the way. A lot of decisions... but not much action.
In today's world of climate change and carbon offsetting, the thought of flying on a jet plane to do a pilgrimage seems rather... wrong. I get that the Camino makes sense for Europeans. But people from all over the world fly to Spain to hike the Camino... but is there anything particularly special about the Spanish pilgrimage? Everything I have read seems to indicate that it is the experience of being on the trail that transforms people. It is the experience of hiking, of walking, of carrying little, of living a simple life... it is from this that people emerge transformed.
Yesterday I saw the movie Wild which stars Reece Witherspoon as Cheryl Strayed. The movie recounts the true story of how Cheryl decided to hike the 1000 mile Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert north to Washington State. Along the way, Cheryl learned a lot about herself and emerged healed and transformed. I knew about the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island. I knew about the Appalachian Trail on the East Coast. I knew about the Trans Canada Trail. But I had never heard of the Pacific Crest Trail. I began to reconsider the Camino.
The Pacific Crest Trail is not for sissies. There are no hostels conveniently located every 15 or 20 km. You have to pack a tent, sleeping bag, stove and everything else with which to survive for several days on the trail. There is no cathedral at the end of the trail.
You can hike the trail south to north as Cheryl did or north to south. It also turns out that the trail is much longer than 1000 miles... more like 2663 miles (4286 km). It begins just inside Canada... and ends near the US border with Mexico. Based on length, it is five Caminos long. It took Cheryl Strayed just over three months to hike 1000 miles. But there is nothing to say that you cannot hike pieces of the trail. That is, in fact, how some people hike the Camino.
I like the idea of the Pacific Crest Trail. I like the idea of a local pilgrimage route. Someone once said that it's not about the destination, it's about the journey. It's not about whether there is a cathedral at the end of the journey. It is about the journey itself. So perhaps the answer to this spiritual quest is not to fly to Spain but to look closer to home.
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