Missing the Camino

A year ago today Ron and I were walking the Camino de Santiago de Campostella in northern Spain. I have a blog entry (My Camino) detailing the triumphs and terrors of this pilgrimage. When we were coming to the end, I was throwing away my clothes and gear with my usual reckless abandon. I never wanted to walk again. I never wanted to put those boots on, that damned pack on, carry the walking sticks. I thought people who walked it more than once were insane, or unimaginative.

Now, not only am I suffering from nostalgia, but I am looking around for the next big walk. I still don't fully 'get' the distinction between hike, walk, and pilgrimage.  But there is something about well-trodden pilgrimages that remind me that there is some kind of holy reason that millions of people picked that particular route. Ley Lines, Earth Energy, Sanctified Spaces are part of it.

Some portions of the Camino have suffered route changes because of highways and bridges and modern innovations. I swear that I could tell when I was on a deviation because my energy dropped. I felt like I couldn't do it, couldn't walk another step. My sense is that the exchange was temporarily broken. I wasn't getting the juice that sustained me from the earth.

Mentally shopping for the next act, I am simultaneously waiting for the pilgrimage to call me. Right near where I live in Southern Oregon, Mt. Shasta, has an ancient reputation for being very special. I am not thinking of climbing the mountain, but rather walking the Pacific Crest Trail through the area. That presents a huge problem for me. I would have to carry water, tent, food, sleeping bag, snake bite kit. I am thinking of buying a donkey. But they present other challenges.

If you have had a brilliant pilgrimage experience, I would like to hear about it. My legs are twitching and my spirit is yearning.