Tag Archives: Camino Frances

Camino Frances

Camino-living: Cramming a 224-pound life into a 17-pound backpack for the next 43 days.

That’s it. That’s as light as I can make it, 17 pounds (or 7.711 kilograms). 

I am now relieved that I picked the Osprey Manta 34-liter bag because there isn’t a cubic inch left to spare. I’m also relieved that I opted to jettison the 2.5-liter HydraPak that came with it.

I needed that space for, you know, clothing. As for hydration, a couple of water bottles in the side pockets will do nicely. 

People like me, we find ways to fill an extra-large suitcase just as easily as we fill a medium-sized one.

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Camino Frances

These boots are made for walking, and that’s just what they’ll do — well, one pair will

On Sunday, I leave Mexico to walk the Camino Francés. 

That’s about 500 U.S. miles of walking over perhaps 34 days.

Unlike the Adirondacks, the Pacific Crest, or the Appalachian trails in the U.S., the Camino has cell service, probably too many people (to which I am contributing), and many indoor sleeping options, from bunk-room auberges to hotels with saunas and pools.

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Colonia San Antonio, Memoirs -- fact and fiction, San Miguel de Allende, Writings

Water, water everywhere and … well, that’s the whole story

Water was a running theme all day Sunday: On Carretera Antotonilco A Cruz del Palmar, next to Rio Lajas, on the way back to San Miguel.

I walked and waded 19 miles along muddy roads on Sunday, only to find myself wading through a couple of inches of water in my apartment during the torrential downpour later in the evening. Wet and wild was sort of the theme on Sunday.

There I was, standing at the front door, watching the downpour and marveling at how Moppit and I had dodged a bullet.

Moments before, we’d set out for our evening walk when the sprinkling started. Normally, we’d race around the block before the rain began in earnest. Not this time. After eight rainy seasons in San Miguel de Allende, you learn to listen to your gut, read the clouds, scope out the wind, and sense the drop in barometric pressure.

We turned around and raced home, just as the skies let loose.

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