35 days to go

Almost a month is gone by and we have not had a chance to train any more.  We had the ice storm before Christmas that took down trees and power lines in all the region.  one half million homes without power (that means no heat) for up t 10 days.  The ice storm was followed by a mass of polar air that brought temperatures down to -25C and with windchill of -40C (or -40F).  And we got  bad cold that kept us home for a week.  Then 2 weeks in Mexico City visiting family and that bring us to today.

We finally went for a short 2 hour walk yesterday.  The temperature was up to a relative warm of -9C.  We were surprised to see the damage the ice storm left behind.  Huge trees broke in half, downed branches everywhere.  Fortunately the path has been cleared by city crews (this trail is in city of Mississauga grounds).

As for preparation we keep reading and planning, but now is time to get busy.  There is lots to do at home before we go.   We probably will not have to walk a lot, may be just 10 to 15 km twice a week if the weather permits.  After all winter has another 2 or 3 months to go.

On the spiritual side we had a chance while in Mexico to go and visit the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe and ask for her protection.  We need a very special favour from Her and from St. James and after all, we know that miracles happen in El Camino.

Only 60 days to go

It is hard to believe that we are now in 2014 and there are exactly 60 days  left before our flight to Madrid.

Training has become more difficult, December brought us snow, then an ice storm that created a lot of hazards and closed many trail and conservation areas and finally the last few days we had to cope with very cold weather.  We had a few 10 Km walks in -12 C (as in the pictures).  We have been walking with our day packs only, no load,  But we have accepted that it is more difficult to walk in snow and in the last walk we found a very slippery layer of ice under the snow.  Luckily this Christmas we got  spikes that we used in our last hike.   They really help.   The last time out in addition to the -14 C it was very windy.  It is the first time that I cannot drink any water because the hose of my hydration pack got frozen solid.

The last couple of days the temperature has been down.  It is -17 C going to -22 C (that is -7.6  F)  in the evening and we are expecting another 10 cm of snow during the day. Also,  I got a pretty bad cold so I have stayed home the last two days.  By Saturday the temperature is expected to go up to -5 C.  That we can handle so we may be able to get our packs and go out again.

Our luggage is pretty well ready.  We plan to go over it in detail again to see if we can eliminate a few more items.  We want to keep the weight under 7 kg for me and 6 Kg for her.

The other part of the preparation is the spiritual part.  As Roman Catholics we are going to try el Camino de Santiago a a religious pilgrimage.  How do I do this?  It is a good question.  My approach has been to start going over the readings of the mass of the day.  I found an app for my android phone ( it is called "Laudeate") that not only has the readings but also meditations and if I get more ambitious it also has the daily liturgy of the hours.

I don't think I will be writing in the blog for a while.  We are to Mexico City for a couple of weeks and our walks there will be urban walks, without a car is very difficult yo get up to the mountains.

Training and waiting

Only 96 days to go.

I got obsessed with the weight of my backpack and I managed to trim one more kg.  I am down to 6 kg (without water or food).  I traded my sandals (560 grams) for ultralight shoes (New Balance minimum, 396 grams).  I traded my Columbia pants (with zippers to convert to shorts) for my one piece Merrill slacks and saved another a 160 grams.  So with a bit here and there I reduced the weight one whole kilogram.  That is almost 15%.

So we got a sunny day, a bit cool - around 0C, we loaded the backpacks and added water and food for the day bringing my pack to around 9 kg and we managed 20 Km in 5 hours.  We walked on the Hamilton to Brantford trail which is an easy trail with a gentle slope.  It was not very taxing so I think we are close to ready.  We also have to think that we are going to have to do this day after day after day.

Now that the snow is here it may get a bit more difficult to go hiking.  We may have to get the cross country skis out.

Trip preparation

Progress!!

A couple of days ago we finally figured that we have everything we need to walk in March.  So we did a trial packing.  My pack fully loaded weights 6.8 kg and the wife's 5.5 kg.  That includes only one change of clothes plus an extra t-shirt and an extra pair of socks.  That is also before we add the 2 litres of water of the hydration pack.  So the answer is, we have to try to loose 3 or 4 kg before we start walking (I can certainly afford that).  We have to keep training and with fully loaded packs.  I am pretty sure that walking in Ontario in the winter will be colder than walking in Navarra in March.  If anybody  want a complete packing list please let me know.

We also bought our flight tickets.  We are leaving on March 3 via Lufthansa.  I was surprised to see that the tickets were a lot cheaper than what we paid this year; perhaps is because we bought them so early.  We are flying overnight to Frankfurt and from there to Madrid (another surprise, there are no non-stop flights to Madrid).  We arrive in Madrid shortly before noon.  We figure we can take a bus from Terminal 4 to Pamplona leaving at 1 PM or if we miss that one there is another one at 3 PM.  Arrive in Pamplona 7 or 8 PM and next day we can take the only bus to Roncesvalles at 6 PM.  That gives us one day to recover from jet lag in Pamplona.  In Roncesvalles we arrive on time for the Pilgrim mass and we start to walk the next day.  Cannot wait!

Canadian Company of Pilgrims

Yesterday my wife and I attended a meeting of the Canadian Company of Pilgrims.  I was surprised to see over 50 people there.  There were several pilgrims to share their experiences, give advise and answer questions.  We learned a lot.

  We also decided to start our pilgrimage earlier,  instead of mid April, start in early March.  We checked the weather.  In Navarra, the high for the day averages 13 degrees Celsius and goes up to 15C  by month end.  It sounds that we can expect occasional lows of 0 C and possibility of snow.  This is fine, after all, we hike in the winter in colder days.  Bring it on, we are Canadians.

Only 4 months to go.

Walking

After a month of inactivity.  First with a bad cold, then two weeks away visiting family and right after we got home I hurt my back on the first hike.  May be I will be ready to start walking again next week.  We had been trying for 40 to 50 km a week but now we have lost all our training.  We have to start all over.

In the Bruce trail near Mississauga, Ontario

We are still planning for a start in mid to late March.  We know most people finish in somewhere around 35 days.  Trying to be realistic I think we will need at least 45 days.

We keep buying equipment little by little.  We just got our sleeping bags.  They are rated for 15C (and for a extreme of 3C).  The average temperature in Navarra in March is around 9 C with a minimum of 3C.  We do not expect to have to sleep outside so we should be fine.  The sleeping bags weight 1 kg so they will be a significant part of our load but they pack reasonably small.

I will write occasionally until we start el Camino

Backpack

I have a new backpack for the journey.  It is a 40 litres Mountain Warehouse pack.  It took me a long time to decide what I wanted.  This model comes with a lower compartment for the sleeping bag, a rain cover, facilities to add a hydration system and lots of pockets.  40 litres is not very big but that is on purpose.  We want to pack as little as possible, after all, we will have to carry the stuff for 750 km.

As for the hydration system I have been using a 2 litre bag.  It fit nicely in the new pack.  The bagpack weights one kg and the water 2 kg.  I have set as my load limit 8 kg.  So adding the sleeping bag (good for temperatures of 5C to 15C) that is one more kg.  I have used half of my load in just the basics.  It is going to be difficult to live for a month and a half with luggage that weights only 4 kg (for my friend is the USA 4 kg = 8.8 lb).

I like my new pack.  I just spent some time sawing my Canadian flag patch and a Cross of Santiago patch. It is ready to go.  Soon I will have to start hiking with the new pack loaded.