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Memoir: The Final Day

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Day 27 Alcandre to Logrono: The Final Day Love how the clouds soften the image It is now 4 months after Deb’s and my return to the United States from our 240 mile hike up the Río Ebro in northeastern Spain. With time for thought, I now draw a distinction between this experience and past journeys along the Caminos de Santiago. Alongside us all the way, the Río Ebro was a silent actor in this experience; a character without a word to say; the protagonist that linked the events of the drama.  The days of pre-dawn wake-ups and stepping out the door into the darkness to have the river one more time guide us, lead us, direct us … now reside in the past. On our final day, while walking to Logrono, we have two choices: stay on the roadside path and save ourselves a couple of miles, or take the longer path to the right, in order to get closer to the river - to leave the tar and asphalt of the road for the dirt and sand banks of the Ebro. Wondering how long it took erosion to form the landsc...
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Time to Enjoy

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  Day 13: Time to Enjoy (Caspe to Escatron) 5:00 a.m. Wake up. Pre-departure routine:  Breakfast, wash up, pack. The alarm is ringing. It’s dark outside. There are two of us, Deb and I, but the bathroom holds one person only. So who is getting up and at’em first? Me. I roll back the sheet, roll out of the bed and schlep on over to the bathroom.  One minute in the shower for a quick rinse-off. Just enough to feel refreshed.  I open some grocery items for a quick bit of protein and some carbs. Have some fruit, perhaps some berries or an apple and my first hit of sports drink and water mix for the day. I pack up my shaving kit, medicine kit, phone charge cable and lunch kit. Put on some blister protection - purely defensive - and extra padding for the feet and softener. Shirt and pants on. Shoes on. I’m ready. Deb’s ready. We head for the door, and off we go into the darkness.  It’s  six a.m., still dark and according to my phone, the temperature is 71F. After...
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Challenging Times

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  Challenging Times (Day 11: Batea to Fabara) Fabara, Spain It's 6:00 a.m. and Deb and I are leaving Batea. Temperature forecast says it stays below 80 until 9:00 a.m.. and below 90 until 12:00 p.m. The weather, which is in an unusual and brutal summer heatwave here, makes certain types of hiking and activities simply impossible. To be specific, anything after 12:00 p.m. is essentially dangerous. Vineyards outside Batea in the breaking dawn But these weather conditions are unbelievable, even for this time of year in Spain, and require changing my expectations. And we have 18 mile stages coming up, with few if any, support locations between the start and the end of a day’s hike. Segments of these stages will be along asphalt roads. From AI Gemini: "In 90°F (32°C) ambient temperatures, an asphalt road can reach 120°F to 150°F (49°C to 66°C), especially in direct sunlight. Two-thirds of the way to Fabara. 10:30 a.m. and we have eight miles completed. Deb and I are having serious ...
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The Power of Imagery

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  The Power of Imagery (Day 22 : Buñuel to Tudela) It’s been the usual long day in 90+f temperatures during the sun-glazed afternoons. In the Catholic cathedrals, standing at the bannister that separates the altar from the worshippers, I see awesome artistic displays of saints and sinners, Jesus and God, suffering and joy, death and resurrection. The comparisons of Protestantism and Islam religious displays to Catholicism are striking. When it comes to mosques, I think of Islam and why there are no human or animal images. There are strict prohibitions on these representations, because of the potential for idolatry. In the now converted mosques of Spain, Islam’s stunning geometric tiles were often left in place. Perhaps because they have the effect of pulling in the worshiper - or the visitor. Nonetheless, they are striking as you walk along them. I remember my trip to Wittenberg, Germany to explore the start of Protestantism. I stood before the door of the church where Martin Luthe...
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Looking Back on the Camino Ebro

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  Looking Back on the Camino Ebro Another Camino de Santiago under the belt. ... or should I say under the feet? During the end of June and most of July, this year, 2025, Deb and I hiked 240 miles through northeast Spain from the Mediterranean Sea (south of Barcelona), through the autonomous communities of Cataluna, Aragon, Navarre and La Rioja. Our goal was simple: to follow the Río Ebro up-river.  As we continued our northwest hike, the geography went from a river delta, through rice fields, over the Sierra de Pandols mountains, and then days of endless farms of grains and fruits … and many vineyards. We visited cities like Zaragoza and Logrono, both founded more than 2000 years ago, and mixed it up with the residents of towns and hamlets, some with populations of only hundreds. Mouth of the Río Ebro - Sunrise The Río Ebro was the metaphor for this hiking adventure. As we moved farther and farther upriver, the same sets of conditions repeated themselves: the Ebro bent and tw...
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