Passions and Paces #6
Countdown!
Hello, Substack!
March 22 marks 50 days until I begin my walk on the Camino Frances. I find myself getting ready, like a pregnant woman nesting in her third trimester. I’m very excited!
One of the recommendations for pilgrimage preparation is to check out your gear before you begin your Camino journey. I figured it was time to break in new shoes and some other items I purchased for the trip, including a brick-colored long sleeved year-round base layer shirt, three pairs of wool socks, some fingerless gloves, and an adjustable crossover bag to carry a water bottle and a phone. So . . . how they’d pan out?
Well, Albuquerque right now is 10 degrees hotter than normal . . . almost 90 degrees by mid-afternoon. I wore the base layer under a hiking shirt and took off the shirt within the first 10 minutes of my hike. And even with just the “year-round” (ha! ha!) base layer, I drank twice as much water as normal and still got overheated. Face flushed red overheated. That’ll never do. Today I bought two synthetic wicking t-shirts (short sleeved), surmising that I’ll just need more sunscreen for Spain. There’s a good chance it won’t be as warm there in May, ¡Espero!
The wool socks performed as expected, fitting tightly around the foot and wicking beautifully. These will definitely be making the trip.
I acquired the fingerless gloves to avoid blisters between my index fingers and thumbs caused by hiking poles. After two hikes, the jury’s still out on whether these will work for their intended purpose. I’m not sure that my hands will be blister-free after hiking for a few days. But for preventing sunburn on my hands, the gloves get an A+.
Hands down, the best purchase was the water bottle carrier. Usually, my husband is with me when I hike, and he can retrieve whatever I need from my day pack, including water. But alas, he will not be with me en España. With this little bag though, I can carry whatever size water bottle I want and drink from it without removing my pack. That’s a real time saver. Not only that, I discovered a cool feature on my pack. The crossover strap on the bag can be threaded through two loops on the pack, which keeps the water and carrier weight off my shoulders.
So, what else have I done to prepare? I hiked two days in a row for the first time this year, approximately 7 miles each day. The first day I hiked the Blue Ribbon Trail to the turnoff to Gnasty Wag and then back to the trailhead through Otero Canyon. The second day I hiked the Faulty Trail Loop. Remember that wine tasting I mentioned in my last newsletter? I met Paula (a new connection!) who hiked the loop trail with me. I was a little sore after the back-to-back days, but not exhausted. The plan is to do at least one 9-mile hike this coming week. I’m still building strength at the gym, and I asked one of the trainers to show me some exercises to prevent shin splints.
I’m not gonna lie. More intense focus on Camino prep is taking away from my writing . . . that and babysitting grandchildren four days in a row. The kiddos are delightful, but their presence isn’t conducive to putting words on a page. I did manage to write a short non-fiction piece about cabbage leaves and superstition in my family, and I read The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. (Reading is part of the writing life, too, right?)
What have you been reading and writing lately? Would love to hear from you! #passions_paces
You are so amazing! As for what I'm reading, I'm getting the urge to start on the biographical sketches of the women who worked as Couriers (guides) for the Fred Harvey Indian Detours and that means reading the biography of Emily Hahn, and getting myself to UNM Special Collections to dig into Erna Fergusson's papers.