2024 Hoov's Camino de Santiago Adventure @huntforgold

I celebrated my 80th birthday year by hiking the Camino de Santiago in Spain. I started at St. Jean Pied de Port, France April 22nd and finished on May 20, 2024. The route is about 484 miles or 780 km long. There are many paths to Santiago de Compostela, I chose the most popular one: The French Route.

The Camino de Santiago is also known as the Way of St. James, and is far more than just a trip. This legendary pilgrimage is rich in medieval allure. It attracts individuals from diverse backgrounds with numerous reasons to do this pilgrimage:
-Many for religious reasons and others to
achieve a goal of personal accomplishment,
heal mental or physical wounds,
do it to honor a fallen or injured friend or family member,
join with others in a common purpose,
see some beautiful natural landscape and historic buildings and villages,
exercise.

During my 29 day hike, I experienced a day of snow, 14 days of rain and several windy days. It was mostly cold at about 4°C in the morning and rarely more than 16°C in the afternoons. About half the way was along little used roads or wide paths with a variety of landscape changes: open fields of grains, vineyards, and other crops, livestock, forests, and cities.

I stayed at hotels in three cities: Burgos, Leon and Melide, and the rest of nights in alberges. I made no advanced lodging reservations and only had six albergues that were full so I moved on.

Over the 29 days hiking, I met over 85 people from 30 countries and 10 States in the USA with all kinds of backgrounds and stories to share as we made our way along the WAY of St. James to Santiago de Compostela where we received our Compostela certificates.

I received two:
one for meeting the requirements of a 100 km journey on the Camino and
the other documented my journey from St. Jean Pied de Port, France to Santiago de la Compostela.

For almost a month on the Camino de Santiago, the people I met, including those, I walked with and stayed with at the various albergues, and all of the staff people I encountered at the places of business were so positive and uplifting that I wish that experience would continue for the rest of my life journey.

After a 3 minute introduction, my video shows my progress on each of the 29 days journey.

If you want to learn more about my "2024 Hoov’s Camino de Santiago Adventure", go to my blog at: http://rtjhunt.blogspot.com/