Obstacles

Castrojeriz to Fromista (Thursday, June 10th)
The journey from Castrojeriz to Fromista was not one of the most pleasurable days on the journey unless one takes pleasure in triumphing over significant obstacles and discomfort. It reminded me of the Confidence Courses or Obstacle Courses from my military days, or the series of tasks that Hercules had to perform. The first couple of kilometers from Castrojeriz were easy, across a flat plain, and then it was up and up and up a very steep path, up the side of a hill/mountain/whatever. The track was muddy from rain and at times muddy and windy so that one could almost imagine being blown off of the trail and the side of the small ridge, especially when rounding a bend, but it didn't happen, thankfully. The trail kept winding, surely after the next curve the end and top would be in sight, and yet it would go on. One of the "rules" I allowed myself early on in starting the Camino was that I was allowed all the breaks I needed to take - I wasn't trying to prove anything to anyone. So when I had to stop on that long hike up, I did for a few moments until I could handle the next stretch. At last, I saw the the small obelisk that marked the top of the uphill trail. I stepped past it and turned around to see the incredible view of the valley I had left behind. There was a small pavilion at the top, presumably to sit and give thanks for obtaining the summit. There was a group of about 4 guys that had finished climbing the top ahead of me who were taking pictures of each other and had finished resting and were leaving just as I arrived, and one other single male pilgrim.

The next challenge/obstacle was this tabletop mesa itself. The wind was something else. The mesa was perfectly flat, barely a tree in sight, and it, too, was very muddy in some places. It was a very peculiar sight, like something out of the American southwest. Not terribly large, but each step was fought for against the wind. The sky was filled with heavy, dark clouds which were moving quickly. I felt the need to keep the other guys in sight; I didn´t want to be up there by myself and though there were a number of people coming up the path behind me, there was no one visible yet behind me and I needed to know I wasn´t humanly alone up there on the mesa. It was a strange feeling, like being alone in the world, alone against all the elements. But for a little while, perhaps several minutes, I was, until I began the next challenge: the descent.

The descent was an obstacle I had experienced before. An extremely steep, rocky and rutted path that went on and on. Hard on the knees. It´s funny, you develop a preference for size of rock and gravel on which to walk. Something you have probably never considered before. Descents are tedious because you have to concentrate so hard, or at least I do, so I don´t slip or slide or roll. It´s exhausting in a different kind of way from climbing up. Finally, this phase, too, came to an end. Then began a phase I just didn´t expect.

Slimey, sticky marsh mud. The kind that makes you taller and heavier with each step. The kind that you can´t get off of your boots for love or money. I tried to walk around the edges of the path, but even that didn´t work because of the vegetation along the path - about as sharp as the spartina grass we have in the marshes back home and just as dense. This mud went on for at least one to two kilometers, maybe more, which is a very long time to slog through something. And all the while, the wind was still horrendous. Not as bad as it had been up on top of the mesa, but so bad, it just tore my little Kmart highlighter pink poncho to shreds. Alejandro from Argentina told me later, "I just kept finding pieces of Joan all across the meseta!" I threw it away when I got to Fromista. But meanwhile, the wind whipped it around me and the drizzle drizzled. and it was a generally miserable day.

About 12 km from Castrojeriz, I finally reached Itero and the little cafe/bar. I paused for a well-earned break. I was exhausted from all the different challenges, both physical and mental from having to concentrate so hard on the path. Afterwards, I wasn't much looking forward to getting started again, especially since the rain was just picking up again, but a couple was ready to leave again as well and so I started out with them. It turns out they were from Norway. I am one eighth Norwegian and so we got started talking about Norway and Georgia. They were Johanna and Ingevor (or something close to that). He has been a TV-radio journalist for 30 years or so. She has her law degree, but apparently you have to do a 2 year internship and appear in court so many times to be a lawyer in Norway and she hasn´t done that, so she is more like a paralegal working for the city. They live in southwestern Norway, a city where cruise ships pull in. They are doing the Camino in segments over several years and this is their third time. They are a really interesting couple and we had a lively conversation despite the wind and possible sleet and absolutely pelting rain. As it happens, another Norwegian, Klaus, came by and they conversed for awhile in Norwegian. Johanna apologized, but I enjoyed hearing one of my mother tongues being spoken. I had never really heard it before. We traveled the whole way to Fromista together. Just before we got to Fromista, we came to the Canal de Castilla. The Canal, like the Erie Canal, like the Canal in Augusta, was used for business purposes. This canal was used to transport crops (wheat, barley, oats) up to the northern seaports. It was also used to power corn mills. This is the first area where I have seen corn growing. There was a large lock with a major difference in water levels here. We took pictures of each other at the lock. With the invention of the train, and then the highway, the canal is now mostly used for leisure with canal boat cruises and the like. It is also important for irrigation in this area, which is sort of the bread basket for Spain. If it hadn't been raining, it would have been really beautiful and a nice spot for a picnic. There were lots of informative signs about how the locks and canal work.





Fromista is a nice little town, the most important feature of which is the church just adjacent to our alburgue, San Martin. It is an 11th century Romanesque church, very well preserved. In a little gift shop, I find a replacement poncho (a much more subdued olive color!) to replace my highlighter pink one that I have only a few remnants of any more. The new one is also a heavier grade plastic, so maybe it will last a little longer.

Purely by accident, as we are out looking for a shirt for Stella this evening for the cool weather, we go by another church, St. Peter Gonzalez (a local saint), and see a sign, for a concert for pilgrims at 6:30 this evening. It´s after 6 already, so we decide to wait. What a wonderful surprise and gift! A man from Milwaukee, who has made 3 Caminos, was so deeply affected by it, that he has funded free concerts for three venues in the province of Palencia for June through August of this year with about 7 or 8 different artists! Carlos and Gladis Rodriguez from Puerto Rico, graduate music students in Milwaukee, he on guitar and her a soprano, perform classical music, typical Puerto Rican music and other numbers. It is so lovely. And they are such a lovely young couple who are so obviously deeply in love, and so tender and appreciative with each other. They shine when the other performs, it is so sweet. They close with her singing something composed by St. Theresa of Avila, and then (I think Shubert´s) Ave Maria. Not coincidentally perhaps, as she finishes, the church bells are ringing. It is absolutely beautiful way to end a difficult and challenging day!