That was a great post! I really enjoyed reading about how you spend the last hours in the build up to the grand depart. It was rather calming too. Do you have a plan in mind for the morning? Will it be an early start? You have your food for the day already bought I think? Will you stop at Orrison for a drink or a bite to eat?
Well, thanks, Ian
In the morning, I leave before 7:00 am. I'm already packed up, so it's quickly into clothes. If the weather outside is rainy, then I'll grab my poncho out of the pack's side pocket and have it ready to put on at the door.
After I'm dressed, I'll have a prayer time read some from the New Testament. I also re-read daily a neat little piece by Max Lucado (I pasted it down below).
If breakfast is being served (I don't know if it is at Makila), then I'll
briefly sit and eat a bite and say 'hello' to others getting ready to depart. Now that I am fully rested, I want to just get going. If there is no breakfast served, no problem; I have breakfast in my pack in the form of cheese, baguette roll, and sausage (purchased the day before) all zip locked in baggies for a short breakfast picnic up the road. That and a container of OJ, or Fanta orange flavor if there is no suitable container of OJ found. This is extra weight that quickly goes away
If the bakery is open on the way out of SJPdP, I'll grab a fresh croissant or pastry.
Some may find this a bit offensive, but I won't walk in a group or with someone I have not hiked with. I save my socializing when I take breaks, or at the end of the day, but I do not like walking with others who I do not know. I do not like incessant chatter while walking. I do not like adjusting my pace. I don't want to experience someone's hiking idiosyncrasies. I don't want to have to stop when they want to stop, or wait for the end of a "nature break". I like to meditate and contemplate and allow my thoughts to be unoccupied by distractions forced on me by others.
And I don't want others to have to put up with me, either.
That all can change as social introductions and compatibilities surface as the pilgrimage progresses and people you see and frequently talk with become known quantities. But it would still be an unlikely thing. I do have people that I hike with. Somehow, we seem to instinctively know
how to hike together. We have compatible needs and styles. That is why doing Camino with my son, Caleb, is such a joy. For some reason, we
need the almost identical things from a hike or backpacking trip, or Camino.
And don't get me wrong. I enjoy giving a smile, a greeting (Buen Camino for the 200th time), and even encouragement for someone appearing frazzled and listless. Providing comfort and first aid to any who need it, and even carrying someone's pack for a bit until they can get to a place of assistance.
I don't know what my pace this year will be. There have been too many physical issues over the last months to think I will keep my normal pace. I may have a new 'normal' now. I typically take a 'pause' break every hour and a longer 5 or 10 minute break every two hours.
I am frequently snacking while walking in order to keep calories available for the engine. I'll nibble on cheese and sausage/jerky. I will also have purchased some nuts, dried fruit (raisins), and Peanut M&Ms that I've mixed all together into a baggie which resides in part. Snickers will also be in attendance -- I tend to eat a quarter of a bar at a time.
I carry 1.5 liters of water on the section to Orisson. Last year, even though it was early, I refilled a bit at Huntto. At Orisson I will fill up the bladder to its full two liter capacity.
I found that stopping for a 30 to 40 minute break at Orisson last year was a good thing. A fresh bocadillo, some regular Coca Cola and Fanta, etc. really hit the spot. A time to let hydration really take hold, and having a leisurely nature break. It was also fun to see and talk to those who were brand new acquaintances only just yesterday, but now are fellow pilgrims on the same road.
The rest of the Napoleon route up to Col Loepeder is not remembered as being challenging, just a decent length of a walk. It was fun to stop at the two food trucks/trailers. I didn't care all that much for the downhill portion of the walk into Roncesvalles. it wasn't particularly distressing, but it made my right foot (who, in case you didn't know form previous postings, hates my guts) terribly irritable (yeah, its a 'snowflake primadonna'. Sigh). But once Caleb and I got to our beds at the albergue and I was able to get off my feet for 15 minutes, the primadonna seemed to have calmed down.
This year, I'll probably arrive about 60 to 90 minutes later than Caleb and I did last year. That's just a guess, not a certainty. I made reservations, so I'm not seating the time. In fact, even without a reservation, it would more than likely also not be an issue.
Even with snacking along the way, and eating lunch, I know I'll be famished. Before dinner, I'll be in the vending machine room hurriedly dropping Euro coins into the slots of a variety of goodies. To an onlooker viewing my eating, it will almost appear I'd been kept in a cell without access to food for at least a week.
Maybe it will be different this year than last, or the way it usually is at the end of a backpacking day, but i sincerely doubt it.
Do yourself a favor if you are in visual range, and don't look. My dignity seems to be secondary to my need for feed at this point.
When I finally get my to my bunk, and get my GoPro and cell phone on the charger, I won't immediately lay down. It is time for a nice shower. I want to get cleaned up and changed into my spare clothes and socks before I lay down a bit and relax. After a 15 minute lay down, I'll likely pop some Ibuprofen to help with any aches, pains, or swellings of the first day's efforts.
Next, laundry. Cold water hand wash, beaucoup rinsing, gentle wringing out with a side-trip outside to centrifuge more excess water out. Things will be air dried by morning, except the SmartWool socks which will still be a bit damp. They will finish drying out as the ride in the back mesh pocket of my pack the next morning.
I really enjoyed last year's communal pilgrim dinner. A lot of camaraderie, laughs, personal insights, and a wonderful getting-to-know-those-around-you time. And if I'm lucky like last year, no one will ask "Why are you walking the Camino?"
After dinner, weather permitting, it was great to stroll around, working some stiffness out of leg muscles, and looking around the village. After 40 minutes or so I got back to my bunk, grabbed my cell phone and went out to the common areas to call home. That was pretty much the last thing before bed.
I was amazed at how things seemed to really quiet down and settle as the lateness of the evening progressed. I use earplugs and so noise doesn't really bother MY sleep, but even without the earplugs, it was interesting that such a large dorm facility on my floor seemed so quiet and peaceful.
I had a great restful sleep that night.
------------------------------------------
It’s quiet. It’s early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming.
In a few moments the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be replaced by the pounding pace of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met. For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day’s demands. It is now that I must make a choice.
Because of Calvary, I’m free to choose. And so I choose.
I choose love. No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.
I choose joy. I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical… the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.
I choose peace. I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.
I choose patience. I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite Him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.
I choose kindness. I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.
I choose goodness. I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.
I choose faithfulness. Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their father will not come home.
I choose gentleness. Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice, may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.
I choose self-control. I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal. I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. I choose self-control.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. To these I commit my day.
If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek His grace. And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest.
Excerpted from Let the Journey Begin by Max Lucado © Thomas Nelson.