Click on the above slideshow to view the many wonderful pilgrims I met while walking the Camino!
Panoramic view from Alto Altar Mayor at 1535 metres (5,036 feet) above sea level.
David stood by the cairn at Alto Altar Mayor, 1535 metres, the highest point on the Camino!
David at Cruz de Ferro 1,504 metres (4,934 feet) above sea level. I am holding the two special
stones I brought from England to place at the foot of this cross on the Camino.
These are the two special stones I brought from England to leave at the foot of the cross
at Cruz de Ferro.
The stones in my hand are the ones I brought in my rucksack from England. The left hand stone is in memory of Lynne. I had collected it a few weeks earlier on the slopes of Great Whernside in the Yorkshire Dales. I had been descending from the summit, through an area of moorland, when I spotted this stone lying on the peat between boulders of millstone grit. I knew instantly that this was the stone I needed to take with me on the Camino to place at the foot of the cross at Cruz de Ferro. The stone on the right I collected on a walk up to the summit of Blackstone Edge, the week before I left home for the Camino. It had been a mini-pilgrimage to the mountain which rises above my home village of Littleborough in Lancashire. So this was my stone to place at Cruz de Ferro.
I was overcome with emotion as I placed the stones (see photo above on the right) at the foot of the cross at Cruz de Ferro. I was walking the Camino de Santiago in memory of Lynne and as a tribute to our wonderful 46 years together. This was a moment of great significance to me as I thought about Lynne. She was/is the love of my life, my soul mate and best friend. Tears flowed freely as I stood in prayer at the foot of the cross!
David elated at Monte do Gozo with his first view of the distant towers
of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
David with fellow pilgrims Susanna, Pia and Cathy. We were ecstatic at completing the Camino!!!
A couple of days to rest and 'catch up' with fellow pilgrims!
It was wonderful to listen to all the different stories not only about our Camino walk but the reasons that had led to them decide to undertake this amazing pilgrimage. As we finished our meeting, just as the cathedral bells deeply donged in the cathedral, our Camino Companion said that she would like to take me back down to the pilgrim office. She said that after hearing my story about me walking the Camino in memory of Lynne she felt it was important for me to have Lynne's name recorded on my compostela certificate. She took me past the very long queue of pilgrims waiting to receive their compostelas right up to the official who had earlier given me my certificate. She asked him in Spanish to record on my compostela that I had walked the Camino in memory of Lynne! I was overcome with joy at this very special moment knowing that Lynne would have been so thrilled that I had done it for her. Wow!!! . . . . what an awesome and wonderful moment!!!
My Camino ''compostela' certificate with Lynne's name added at the bottom!
Both my compostela certificates, written in Latin, are now proudly mounted in my hallway alongside a map of the camino route from St Jean Pied de Port in France out to the Atlantic Ocean.
Pilgrims about to leave Santiago de Compostela for the next stage
of the Camino out to Finisterre on the Atlantic Ocean.
So on Friday 17th May 2019 I was back on the road again! I left Santiago early in the morning for this final stage of my camino. I loved Santiago but I was ready to begin this next stage of my adventure! Ahead of me was a seven hour walk on tracks through oak and eucalyptus woodland. It was to take me four days to reach the Atlantic Ocean at Finisterre. But just a couple of miles from Santiago there was a view back to the city and the distant spires of the cathedral. It was an opportunity to reflect on my journey so far and say a prayer of thanks for my safe travels. As I turned round to face the trail I was stunned by a huge rainbow over the hills ahead! It was truly beautiful . . . . "God's promise for the future!'. It was here I remembered that 'still small voice' that I heard months before while on a prayer walk at Scargill in Wharfedale. It quietly whispered several times . . . . "walk with me to the ocean!" So here I was walking onwards to Finisterre on the Atlantic Ocean! It was meant to be!
My final view of the spires of the magnificent Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela!
In April / May I am so excited at setting off on my next travel adventure to Japan. I will be walking for 6 weeks on the Kumano Kodo and Shikoku pilgrimages plus walking along the ancient Nakasendo Way between Kyoto and Tokyo. In the summer I am walking the entire Pennine Way from Derbyshire northwards up to the Southern Uplands in Scotland. In the Autumn I am going to a remote part of Eastern Nepal to trek for a month around the world's third highest peak, Kanchenjunga. Finally in the Spring of 2021 I am returning to Everest to trek in the Everest/Gokyo region.
Lynne said . . . "Keep on travelling!" So I am!!!
Regards
David
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