Today was quite a last long hike. We walked past the next “official” stop and moved into the woods sans hundreds of pilgrims. The alternate route took us into deep forests that were cool and quiet; so we had our last day of reflection. Tomorrow we have a 10k hike into Santiago de Compostela; along with hundreds of others. Before us is the last municipal albergue that sleeps 400 and behind us is the hundreds who stopped in the previous town.
Today, while in the forest, we met up with two of my favorite pilgrim friends. I think I have mentioned them before; the couple who work for EPI in Hungry. We don’t cross paths often, but when we do they always give me a real feel of the Camino. Today they were sitting quietly in the beautiful forest as we walked in.
We said goodbye to our Hungarian friends and then as we walked on we met two young professional women from Japan. They were tired, had sore feet and were telling us where they were staying for the night (which was 4k earlier on the trail!). They had missed the trail split! So they walked on with us, had lunch with us, then we said goodbye. As Debby and I were sitting at our hotel having our afternoon cerveza, here they come! They ended up staying there for the night.
I will miss these short but special encounters with people that seem to bring a special message to me.
Candi, I feel a bit emotional as we finish this great trek. I can’t imagine the emotion that you have, the memories, the friendships and the satisfaction of having pulled this whole thing off. Yep, the old Candi Bachtell determination at work. Congratulations to you and Debbie.
When you get to Santiago, maybe you would turn around and walk back across Spain so we can continue to read your touching and inspiring posts of the trip!!