funniest things seen abandoned on camino

[David]

Hi all - I was idly thinking and my mind visited what pilgrims abandon, jettison, on Camino. I regularly visit Roncesvalles to do first aid and always have a good look at the double "leave it here" tables - usually full!

Heavy clothing, make up .... all sorts of things ....
some/many of you will know of Cheryl Strayed and her book, "Wild," - her 1,100-mile solo hike along the Pacific Crest Trail - later made into a film (the book is so Much better!). Well, last spring I found a pristine unopened copy on the Roncesvalles tables - I found it funny as I could almost see the novice American solo female backpacker pilgrim - how she added that book to her pack so she could read it along the way, to identify with Cheryl and her epic walk as she undertook her own ..... and once she finally managed to haul herself over the pass from St Jean she abandoned it without even opening it!! hahahahaahahaaa

I took the book and read it myself -Fab book by the way, the only honest autobiography I have ever read.

So ... what did you find abandoned??????

 

[Davey Boyd]

Walking towards Villafranca Montes de Oca in 2015 a pilgrim came towards us obviously walking back from Santiago. We stopped dead in our tracks in disbelief, all he had on was sandals and a loincloth, and he carried a staff. After Villafranca near the Civil War monument we found what we think was his possessions. Rucksack, clothing, food, water, tent, boots, waterproofs, the lot. We think he just abandoned everything he had!

 

[jsalt]

I took the book and read it myself -Fab book by the way, the only honest autobiography I have ever read.

I’d love to read that (the film was pretty good) – so where did you then abandon it? . . . so I can pick it up .

I found Shirley MacLaine’s book abandoned somewhere, so I picked it up and read it – not surprised that got abandoned – sorry, can’t remember where I then left it
Jill

 

[jsalt]

On the Rota Vicentina, on the side of the path:

 

[nycwalking]

Funniest thing ... While volunteering in Ponferrada, I'd discarded a top and bottom in pilgrim's bin. A few weeks thereafter, I walked Negriera to Fisterra with a group of pilgrim's, one of whom was wearing my discards.

 

[KinkyOne]

...sorry, can’t remember where I then left it
Jill

Ts, ts, ts, you bad girl, very baaad girl

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Hi all - I was idly thinking and my mind visited what pilgrims abandon, jettison, on Camino. I regularly visit Roncesvalles to do first aid and always have a good look at the double "leave it here" tables - usually full!

Heavy clothing, make up .... all sorts of things ....
some/many of you will know of Cheryl Strayed and her book, "Wild," - her 1,100-mile solo hike along the Pacific Crest Trail - later made into a film (the book is so Much better!). Well, last spring I found a pristine unopened copy on the Roncesvalles tables - I found it funny as I could almost see the novice American solo female backpacker pilgrim - how she added that book to her pack so she could read it along the way, to identify with Cheryl and her epic walk as she undertook her own ..... and once she finally managed to haul herself over the pass from St Jean she abandoned it without even opening it!! hahahahaahahaaa

I took the book and read it myself -Fab book by the way, the only honest autobiography I have ever read.

So ... what did you find abandoned??????

Well, I never saw anything unusual abandoned, but the biggest pile of stuff was definately in Roncevalles!

I read "Wild" too, and agree it was much better than the movie.

 

[Mark Lee]

I’d love to read that (the film was pretty good) – so where did you then abandon it? . . . so I can pick it up .

I found Shirley MacLaine’s book abandoned somewhere, so I picked it up and read it – not surprised that got abandoned – sorry, can’t remember where I then left it
Jill

I believe I would have found a good home for Ms. MacLaine's book at the next albergue near the footwear rack. The pages would come in handy torn out and stuffed into boots/shoes so that they dry faster.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I believe I would have found a good home for Ms. MacLaine's book at the next albergue near the footwear rack. The pages would come in handy torn out and stuffed into boots/shoes so that they dry faster.

I like your humor!

 

[Purple Backpack]

I believe I would have found a good home for Ms. MacLaine's book at the next albergue near the footwear rack. The pages would come in handy torn out and stuffed into boots/shoes so that they dry faster.

You're just jealous you weren't abducted by aliens and taken to Atlantis.

 

[domigee]

Funniest thing ... While volunteering in Ponferrada, I'd discarded a top and bottom in pilgrim's bin. A few weeks thereafter, I walked Negriera to Fisterra with a group of pilgrim's, one of whom was wearing my discards.

Perfect recycling!

 

[Coleen Clark]

I actually counted sox as I walked. 23 from SJPP to Santiago. So 23 people who pinned sox on their packs to dry wound up with only one. Bet they were (sorry) hopping mad!

 

[ezbeer]

Credit Card cut to many small pieces in cruz de ferro

 

[nycwalking]

You're just jealous you weren't abducted by aliens and taken to Atlantis.

Now Mark Lee,

You know you're upset you didn't do a duck run through a pack of snarling wild dogs in Foncebadon.

 

[Mark Lee]

Now Mark Lee,

You know you're upset you didn't do a duck run through a pack of snarling wild dogs in Foncebadon.

Not sure if I ever got that far in the book, ha ha. Was that before or after she realized she was a royal harlot in a previous life, or something like that?

 

[nycwalking]

Before Atlantian birthing episode.... And, 2001, on my first Camino when I awoke to walk Rabanal-Foncebadon-Ponferrada, I was quaking in my boots because of S.Mc.

 

[VNwalking]

It sounds entertaining, but I have to say (sorry Shirley) that I'm very glad to have missed reading this book.
The mundane Camino is deep enough without any fantastic ornamentation whatsoever.

 

[Brian&Deb J.]

Time For Plan B......

Along the climb to O'Cebreiro. May 2016

 

[nycwalking]

Oops, Atlantean, not atlantian.
Buen camino.

 

[cecelia]

I can't remember which year this was but this picture I took on one of my caminos, always makes me laugh and scratch my head - and then wonder who had to clean it up.

 

[AbbyDee]

I can't remember which year this was but this picture I took on one of my caminos, always makes me laugh and scratch my head - and then wonder who had to clean it up.

maybe someone thought they were doing a good deed for weary pilgrims.

 

[Eve Alexandra]

Just had to add how much I loved the book Wild. Anyone who saw the Gilmore Girls reprise on Netflix last Thanksgiving...huge giggles over "the book or the movie" fans. I watched the movie after I read the book. I liked both.

 

[poogeyejr]

Gilmore Girls reprise on Netflix last Thanksgiving...huge giggles over "the book or the movie" fans. I watched the movie after I read the book. I liked both.

I was thinking that very thing!!! Book!

 

[Eve Alexandra]

I was thinking that very thing!!! Book!

Always the book! /fist bump!

 

[susanawee]

Walking towards Villafranca Montes de Oca in 2015 a pilgrim came towards us obviously walking back from Santiago. We stopped dead in our tracks in disbelief, all he had on was sandals and a loincloth, and he carried a staff. After Villafranca near the Civil War monument we found what we think was his possessions. Rucksack, clothing, food, water, tent, boots, waterproofs, the lot. We think he just abandoned everything he had!

How Very odd....

 

[Gillean]

I actually counted sox as I walked. 23 from SJPP to Santiago. So 23 people who pinned sox on their packs to dry wound up with only one. Bet they were (sorry) hopping mad!

I started using these to clip my socks to my pack for drying - worked great!

 

[Coleen Clark]

I started using these to clip my socks to my pack for drying - worked great!

...saw one of these too. With sock still attached....

 

[VNwalking]

...saw one of these too. With sock still attached....

Was it Gillean's?

 

[Deborah Kostisin]

I volunteered in Viana for 2 weeks and one night around the dinner table 3 of the pilgrims that were walking together shared this story. The 3 had started out from Los Arcos that morning. While they were walking, blisters on one of the girls feet became so painful that she wasn't able to go on. One of her friends was going to go ahead and get help while the other stayed with her. They decided to stop a little ahead when they saw there was a bit of shade under a tree where there seemed to be a few big rocks to sit on. When they got to the spot, on the side of the biggest rock was a pair of trainers. Set nicely beside the path. The girls looked around and found no one. Looking a bit more at the shoes the girls realized that the trainers where the perfect size for the poor suffering pilgrim. She tried them on and was able to walk in them all the way to Viana. I fixed up her wounds that afternoon unbeknownst to me the story of how she found the shows that got her there. As the story unfolded around the table a quiet woman traveling on her own said it had been her that left the shoes behind. She had been carrying to much stuff, she hadn't used the shoes since she began her walk and when she stopped in the shade on the rock to have an apple she just decided to leave those shoes right there. She didn't know why she did it, she didn't think twice about it, she said she just did it and walked on. Every night in Viana there were amazing stories told around our humble table.

 

[Gillean]

Was it Gillean's?

Tan-coloured smart wool size 10 1/2? I loved that sock!

 

[Coleen Clark]

Was it Gillean's?

If it was he was *hopping mad*....

 

[Reija]

I actually counted sox as I walked. 23 from SJPP to Santiago. So 23 people who pinned sox on their packs to dry wound up with only one. Bet they were (sorry) hopping mad!

Between SJPP and Santiago I counted at least that many clothing pegs (pins). I picked up and kept the first five and actually used them, too!

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Last year, by a fountain stop, we spotted a pristine black and white flip-flop. About 8k down the road sat its kin.

 

[tpmchugh]

Hi all - I was idly thinking and my mind visited what pilgrims abandon, jettison, on Camino. I regularly visit Roncesvalles to do first aid and always have a good look at the double "leave it here" tables - usually full!

Heavy clothing, make up .... all sorts of things ....
some/many of you will know of Cheryl Strayed and her book, "Wild," - her 1,100-mile solo hike along the Pacific Crest Trail - later made into a film (the book is so Much better!). Well, last spring I found a pristine unopened copy on the Roncesvalles tables - I found it funny as I could almost see the novice American solo female backpacker pilgrim - how she added that book to her pack so she could read it along the way, to identify with Cheryl and her epic walk as she undertook her own ..... and once she finally managed to haul herself over the pass from St Jean she abandoned it without even opening it!! hahahahaahahaaa

I took the book and read it myself -Fab book by the way, the only honest autobiography I have ever read.

So ... what did you find abandoned??????

Funniest I saw was at the mobile café at the top of the hill just before the descent into Zubiri. The sign says 'leave your unwanted items, take whatever you need' or words to that effect. I looked in the box and it was full of ladies bras. All colours and sizes, nothing else. Didn't really need one so passed on that . Where did the original owners think they were going.....to a fashion show

 

[Coleen Clark]

Funniest I saw was at the mobile café at the top of the hill just before the descent into Zubiri. The sign says 'leave your unwanted items, take whatever you need' or words to that effect. I looked in the box and it was full of ladies bras. All colours and sizes, nothing else. Didn't really need one so passed on that . Where did the original owners think they were going.....to a fashion show

I can remember that one clearly! He had a sign that told women to leave underclothes and they would find a husband. I can't remember what it said about men leaving underclothes....it was funny.
I only had three pair of my granny undies and I needed them all. Didn't look a thing like what was in that basket. (Aren't they itchy??????)

 

[tpmchugh]

I can remember that one clearly! He had a sign that told women to leave underclothes and they would find a husband. I can't remember what it said about men leaving underclothes....it was funny.
I only had three pair of my granny undies and I needed them all. Didn't look a thing like what was in that basket. (Aren't they itchy??????)

Wouldnt really know about their itchyness

 

[AbbyDee]

Funniest I saw was at the mobile café at the top of the hill just before the descent into Zubiri. The sign says 'leave your unwanted items, take whatever you need' or words to that effect. I looked in the box and it was full of ladies bras. All colours and sizes, nothing else. Didn't really need one so passed on that . Where did the original owners think they were going.....to a fashion show

Maybe it was a passing tribe of Victoria's Secret Models.......

 

[Coleen Clark]

 

[notion900]

I saw a She Wee and some condoms in a leave and take box.

 

[AbbyDee]

I saw a She Wee and some condoms in a leave and take box.

Always be prepared, as the Boy Scouts say.

 

[notion900]

Always be prepared, as the Boy Scouts say.

I think they were too prepared, and the level of adventure didn't live up to it!!

 

[mazgirl]

As we walked along in the middle of no where we found a umbrella hanging in a tree over a very steep gully

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I saw a She Wee and some condoms in a leave and take box.

I vote you get the 1st place "blue ribbon" on this thread!

 

[notion900]

@Camino Chris See below - I seem to remember that the jar was of some expensive hair styling putty.

So I had this vision of a lady of a certain age, who had the idea of being a swashbuckling, choppy haired, standing up peeing sexual adventuress of a vixen on the Via De La Plata, and then very quickly, like 3 days out of Seville, just said to herself no, this isn't happening, this camino lark is literally the most scruffy, sweaty, unromantic, death to good hair, squat behind a bush scenario, ditch this goddam stuff and forget I ever had such fantasies.
But we have the evidence:

 

[Camino Chrissy]

@Camino Chris See below - I seem to remember that the jar was of some expensive hair styling putty.

So I had this vision of a lady of a certain age, who had the idea of being a swashbuckling, choppy haired, standing up peeing sexual adventuress of a vixen on the Via De La Plata, and then very quickly, like 3 days out of Seville, just said to herself no, this isn't happening, this camino lark is literally the most scruffy, sweaty, unromantic, death to good hair, squat behind a bush scenario, ditch this goddam stuff and forget I ever had such fantasies.
But we have the evidence:

View attachment 32497

You got the photo all right! And your narrative gave me a good laugh!

 

[hilario]

A copy of Paulo Coelhos The Pilgrimage, the very book that inspired me to do the Camino. Took it as a very powerful sign that I was on the right path.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

the strangest thing I have found along the actual path was a pair of shiny white patent-leather gogo boots. And a rolling pin.
The strangest thing I have seen in an albergue lost-and-found box was a lavender tulle evening dress. In Ponferrada. Absolutely fabulous.

 

[domigee]

the strangest thing I have found along the actual path was a pair of shiny white patent-leather gogo boots. And a rolling pin.
The strangest thing I have seen in an albergue lost-and-found box was a lavender tulle evening dress. In Ponferrada. Absolutely fabulous.

 

[VNwalking]

lavender tulle evening dress. In Ponferrada. Absolutely fabulous.

Did you take it?

 

[susanawee]

the strangest thing I have found along the actual path was a pair of shiny white patent-leather gogo boots. And a rolling pin.
The strangest thing I have seen in an albergue lost-and-found box was a lavender tulle evening dress. In Ponferrada. Absolutely fabulous.

How wonderful.....I wonder what occasion the Lavender evening dress was for.....seems like such a strange garment to be in The Lost and Found Box....

 

[Al the optimist]

Bedbugs. I abandoned them in Fisterra and went home. Another time in SDC and went home.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

oh, and along the Camino de Madrid the Ditch Pigs found the tangled remains of a milking machine!

 

[Susan G.]

Here you go!! Taken near Zubiri in 2015....