Camino Euphoria

59 days to go.

As my foot improved my daily walking had been increasing  up to 12,000 to 15,000 steps.

We had an amazing hike last Tuesday, the first of this year.  We started with temperature of -1 C but by the afternoon it was up to 6 C.  Perfect day for walking. My foot worked as if it was new.  The pain was almost gone and, we did over 15 km on snow (and a bit of ice) in the Nassagawaya Canyon.  The snow is still pretty deep, up to our knees but on the trail the snow is well packed.  We were wearing our Yaktracks (traction cleats for snow and ice) so we had a decent grip on the slopes.  On the trail we had a total gain of about 350 metres). We walked down to the bottom and followed the canyon for a few kilometres, went up the other side to a lookout and then back.  So I figured everything was well.  I was very proud of myself and declared myself ready for El Camino Portugues.

The picture is of Wonder Woman after we climbed up from the canyon on the way back

Friday night as I was getting ready to go to bed, I got up from in front of the TV and I got a very sharp pain in the right knee.  I did not sleep much, I could not find any position where the knee did not hurt.  I think Wonder Woman did not sleep either.  So at 5 am I decided that I needed to go and have it checked.  She took me to ER and we were there by 7 am.  I could barely walk with a cane.  I was sure I had torn or broken something.  They checked me, X rays and all, and the diagnosis was a severe flare up of arthritis.  Me ?  I had never had arthritis before.  I guess the years keep taking its toll.  The good news, the doctor assured me that I should be able to walk in Portugal.

Despite my tire and suspension problems (foot and knee), the Camino euphoria is here.  Yesterday , despite spending the morning at the hospital for the knee, we traveled to the other side of the city to attend an evening presentation that our friend Ron, also a veteran of the Camino Frances,  was doing at his church on his experiences on El Camino last year,

Tonight we are going for dinner to another friends house.  She has invited a couple of her friends that are going to walk el Camino en September for the first time.  She does not know what she is doing.  If you get me to talk about the pilgrimage I will never stop.

So, there are always more  and more obstacles I wonder what else can happen before we board the plane for Portugal.  I guess one of the things we learn on el Camino is to put ourselves on the hands of God.  Once you start your pilgrimage you can plan everyday to the minute but the truth is that the plans very seldom are followed.  You do not know where or when you are going to eat or sleep or rest.

Since we are going to visit the Shrine of Our Lady in Fatima and the Cathedral of the apostle Saint James the Great we just have to trust on the protection of Our Mother Mary and of the apostle Santiago el Mayor.