Tag: summer
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Day 13: Conques to Livinhac-le-Haut
~15 miles (bus from Conques to Decazeville and then we walked ~4 miles from Decazeville to Livinhac-le-Haut) Today was a simple day and mostly a rest day. We spent the morning in Conques and then took the Malle Postal bus to Decazville, where we walked about 4 miles to Livinhac-le-Haut. We thought a short day…
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Day 10, 11, & 12: Permission to Rest
~33 miles (by bus), from Saint-Côme d’Olt to Estaing to Conques On the Camino, people always say, “listen to your body,” and while some people take that advice, we have met many who keep walking despite clear messages from their body to take a break. For us, we always said we would take each day…
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Day 7: Aumont-Aubrac to Montgros
~15 miles, across the Aubrac Plateau, rolling hills and very little shade Wow, wow, wow! What an absolutely stunning place this is! I think it took us two hours longer that anticipated because we stopped to take so many photos (that of course do no justice to this place). The area is a high plateau…
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Day 6: Saint-Alban-sur-Limagnole to Aumont-Aubrac
~10 miles, rolling hills, and little shade Day 6 feels like we are finally in a rythme and the days are beginning to blend together. We just finished approximately 60 miles in total. It was also the hottest day yet, highs in mid-70s, but somehow it felt like the 90s. I’m not sure if it’s…
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Day 2: Montbonnet to Monistrol-d’Allier
~10 miles, mostly downhill (but very steep and difficult) Todays walk was hard. We descended about 1500 feet in just a few miles; the track was near vertical and filled with rocks and roots and lined with blackberry and stinging nettle. The long decent was rough on my knees, but we went slow and managed…
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Day 1: Le Puy to Montbonnet
~10 miles, mostly uphill (although fairly easy overall) I’m not even sure where to begin. Today was a multitude of days all contained within about 10 miles of waking. We started in Le-Puy-en-Valley and ended in Montbonnet, crossing farmlands, fields, tiny villages, and many hills. The day was relatively cool (low 60’s) and it rained…
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Amsterdam
Our time in Europe, began with 4 days in Amsterdam, one of my favorite cities in the world! It had been 14 years since I visited and I was looking forward to getting over jet lag while reacquainting myself with this place. Our plane landed at 9 in the morning, after a 10 hour flight,…
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The Next Adventure: Camino de Santiago (Via Podiensis—France) July 2023
Two months ago I bought plane tickets to Europe with plans to walk my second Camino, this time the Via Podiensis (also knows as the Chemin du Puy) in France. I walked my first Camino 11 years ago this summer (~175 miles total on the Camino Frances in Northern Spain); a decision that, at the…
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Siouxon Creek Trail
In late June, 2020, I emerged from months of sheltering in place, due to the coronavirus pandemic, and ventured out into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, in SW Washington State. It was a beautiful, sunny, 80 degree day, with a light breeze. The forest service road to the trail head was mostly paved, but full…
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A Very Hot June in the Pacific Northwest
This year has been pretty A-typical, weather wise, and June has been no exception. Normally this time of year it is still damp and cool and I have always said that summer starts on July 5th in the Pacific Northwest (as it almost always rains on the 4th). But, this year summer arrived sometime in April.…
Walking As a Way of Knowing 