Had to Return Home

I went home. Back to Canada.


I never recovered from attempting to walk over the top of the Prynesses mountains. I never recovered from the walking all day in the rain. I never recovered from a backpack that was already too heavy, being heavier from the rain soaking into it. I never recovered from my sore back which I injured prior to going - I thought the pains would just go away but they only got worst.


I regret not being able to finish. I regret not being able to meet people like Cullen and Palma, David, or others I had talked to on various Internet sites, who are on the trail now. I regret not walking with the Irish couple Billy and his wife Christine. I regret letting my family, followers, and colleagues from work, down.






I cherish that for the first time in my life, I got to go to Europe. I cherish that I got to see France (other than the houses, rural France looks a lot like rural Canada). I cherish that I got to be in St Jean Pied de Port, and at least got a small taste of what being a pilgrim is like. I cherish that I got to be in Paris, and in London, and got the chance to take the high speed train under the English channel (through the tube).



I am tempted to go back and try again. I still have lots of time off of work. But perhaps that would be foolish, and expensive.


I will add some remaining pictures to this post. This will be my last post. If anyone wants to contact me directly, my e-mail is tim.bilton@yahoo.ca

Thanks for all of your support. It was really appreciated.

Tim

Some Pictures

This is me, Tim, the hiker, in St Jean

This is the road out of St Jean. Note how steep it is. The entire walk to Roncesvalles via the Napoleon route is like this. It is relentless and never levels out. By all accounts, take the Valcarlos route. Do not take the Napolean route!!!!

This is looking back at St Jean. I started way down there at the bottom. Now I was up in the clouds!

The width of the road is only wide enough for a small european car. Not that I had to worry about any because the mountain was closed. Even though, I proceeded on which turned out to be a big mistake.

Words cannot describe how steep the fall would be if you fell to the left, or how steep the ground was to the right.

Made it! Par-vay-vou eh?

Arriving in southern France was very exciting. Standing outside of the Biarritz airport, there were 4 other people with backpacks. So we all started talking. There was a girl who spent 30 years living in Barcelona and now lived in London, who could speak perfect English, French, and Spanish. A guy from Germany named Robert, and a very nice couple in their mid-50's from Ireland. Together we made a good team, all adding in a way to the greater good. The girl who could speak French could ask the locals questions, I seemed to be the one who did the most research and was the only one who knew that the train was out of commission but you still had to catch the bus at the train station - not the bus station where the bus driver wanted to take us, etc.

The five of us caught the train (bus) with only one minute to go - and had a nice ride into St Jean Pied de Port (SJPP) but had to keep detouring into small towns where the train would normally make stops.
We got into SJPP about 8 pm, it was then a mad scramble to find the Compostelle or whatever you call it. We eventually found it, people got processed, I got my passport stamped - the people there treated me very nice when they found out that I was a Canadian. They gave me a map showing me the directions and also pointed out where the false turns were and not to make those mistakes. They said that the weather would be very nice and they were telling everyone to take the Napoleon Route, which is the route directly over the top of the mountain, as opposed to the route along the highway around the mountain.

People dispersed to find their different accommodations and we were supposed to meet again for supper but at no set location. I eventually found where my Hostel was - it was on the same road as the Compostelle was on, but down by the river. It is operated by a guy named Eric. Eric's place is not very well advertised, with just a small Camino sign on the door. At this same time, the couple from Ireland met up with me again. They just grabbed the first hostel they seen. I told them to come into Eric's with me so that they could see what Eric's hostel was like. We went in but the place was dark and no one was around. I told the Irish couple to head out for supper and I would join them. I never seen them again. I waited around. I could hear noises and perhaps a TV coming from upstairs. So I walked up the stairs and at the doorway where the noise was coming from, I shouted, Hello, Hello.

A man came out and I asked him if he was Eric and he said he was. I introduced myself and he seemed pleased to meet me. He gave me a tour of the place, where the bedrooms were He said mine would be the one further down the hall, where there were 5 sets of single bunk beds. There was already a backpack from a guy named Bobby from Holland. Eric then showed me where the two bathrooms were, the shower, and the kitchen. Eric said that the French rugby team was playing at 8:30 pm in a game in which if they won, France would be in the remaining group of 6 in a big European tournament (maybe like the World Cup type of thing). Because of that, he said that he could make up breakfast but it would not be before 9 am, as he would be up late celebrating the game and hopefully the win. I paid Eric the 15 Euros, and then headed out to find something to eat. I wound up at a pizza place and ordered a pizza which had a crust not much thicker than paper, and a coating of cheese that must of been applied by a paintbrush (it was so thin).

Went back to the hostel and Bobby was awake but already in bed. Bobby and I talked for a bit - we were going to leave together at 7:45, buy some lunch from the bakery just down the street, and have that for lunch since we would have to make it all the way to Roncevaux. We did not want to wait around for Eric to make breakfast.

Note the picture of the beds. They are metal frames painted in a high gloss paint. This is because the bed bugs cannot grip the smooth metal and travel from one bed to another.

In London - soon to be in France

Mar 19 - Got to Toronto airport at 2:30. Could not check in bags until 3:30. I am positive that I brought too much stuff but what can I do now? Went thru security after checking bags in. A young male guard who looked like he could of been a student wanted to frisk me even though I cleared the security without making a beep, and my hand luggage passed as well. The only reason I can think that they were giving me the twice over treatment is because my pants make me look like an international spy!!!!

Mar 20 - Got into London Heathrow Airport at 6:30 am. Found way to bus station after walking thru endless underground tunnels. The bus would not start after it was all loaded with people and luggage. They have interlock controls on all of their buses here and you have to blow into a tube in order to start them. Appears the driver kept getting a FAIL message. So they got the mechanic to over-ride the system. So much for bus safety!!!!

The bus ride to Stanstead airport was 90 minutes with no traffic. The driver must of be intoxicated because he drove on the wrong side of the road all of the way here!!! I will be leaving for France in about an hour or so. I am started to get really tired as I have not slept since waking up Friday morning.

Not sure how often I will be able to post, but whenever I get the opportunity, I will.

I'm Leaving......on a Jet Plane......

I will be leaving for Toronto within the next hour or so. I have everything packed, all the loose ends tied up, and other than being tired, I am ready to go.

But before I do, I want to thank some people. I want to thank the folks out in the Internet world for all of their great support and especially for putting up with my silly questions about what to wear, customs regarding tipping, border crossings, how to get there, etc., etc., and more etc.

I want to thank my neighbours for all of their kind support. Some have actually been calling me at home today to offer their blessings. Even the nice folks at the Post Office wished me well and are anxious to see pictures when I get back.

The folks at work have been very supportive. Kind words of encouragement from everyone. Tonnes of travelling tips from Cheryl and links to everything; phone numbers from Andre, prayers from others, and especially thanks to my Manager - although we are at year-end, have some huge issues going on, and are as busy as heck, she wishes me well and has not complained once about me going.

Lastly, I need to thank my wife. She has supported me 100% in this endeavour, even although she thinks, and perhaps knows, that I am nuts. She has to hold the fort down while I am gone, and carry on with life while I get to go to la-la land. Teresa, thank you very much, I miss you already and I have not even left yet, and I love you very much.

So off I go. Thank you all :)

Only One Sleep Left!!!!!

I am flying out of Toronto tomorrow, landing in London on Saturday morning - changing airports - then flying to Biarritz, France - taking the bus to Bayonne - and then hopefully catching the last bus to St Jean Pied de Port if I can make it in time. I think I have about 50 minutes from the time I arrive in Bizarritz to the time that the bus leaves Bayonne.

I packed my pack last night for the first time. It weighs 22lbs but is filled to the brim and I need to remove some items. I will do that tonight before I head to bed.

I have been training since October but actually announced to family and colleagues at work three weeks ago that I was postponing my trip until next Fall or maybe even next Spring of 2011 as I was not ready. But two things happened shortly after I made that decision to defer, to make me change my mind. The first thing was that my 93 year grandfather passed away. When visiting my grandfather as often as I could over the past year, he kept telling me, over and over - "You can never get time back". I take that as meaning to do what you need to do now because you may not get a chance later.

The second reason for going now is that although the postponement gave me relief, it only lasted about half of a day. The Camino came back at me, hit me twice at hard, and in some weird sort of way, is pulling me there. There is an old expression that says "that it is easy to quit" but I have tried quitting - the Camino will not allow it. I know that sounds 'dorky', and some people will suspect that the water I am drinking has gone bad, but it is true. That is why I am walking the Camino now. It won't let me go and it will haunt me until I do it.

I will leave one more post tomorrow before I leave for the airport - then the postings will be sporadic as I will have to search for Internet cafes along the way.

Sharp Dressed Man

I now have PANTS! Yes, you are reading correct, the pants have arrived. Well, I had to go and get them. Last time I ordered them from Boston they took about three weeks to get here, being held up in Customs for about 10-12 days. When I sent them back because they were too small, I could not risk waiting that long again. So although I have lived on the Canadian side of the border to the United States for the past 12 years, I have never set up a USA post box.


Desperate times calls for desperate measures. I set one up last week. The pants (two pairs) were finally shipped out of Boston on Friday. They said that they sent me an e-mail confirming the pants were shipped but I never received it. I called them again on Monday and they gave me a tracking number. The pants arrived in on the USA side of Niagara Falls late Monday afternoon. I went over there today, paid $5 for the service, and proceeded to the border. I declared to the border guard what I was taking into Canada (we have to pay duty and taxes if we were not out of the Country for 48 hours but the guards can waive this fee if they are in a good mood). The guard thought for a moment, and then said, "Have a nice day". No duties, no taxes, no hassle. Almost too easy. I could of likely snuck them back over but I am too close to retirement to be messing around with that kind of stuff and I'd rather pay the duty if I have to.


So, I have two pairs of Columbia Titanium hiking pants - lightweight, water resistant, pockets everywhere, and they convert into shorts. I have gone from a pantless pilgrim to one of the sharpest dressed men on the trail. The Camino really does look after you, and I am not even there yet!!!!

Rain, Rain, and more Rain......and still no pants!!!

All it has done today is rain. I fly out in 6 more days so I was hoping to sneak a walk in today, and one tomorrow. I guess I will be on the recumbent bike tonight watching the Leafs play.

I called the lady in Boston yesterday about the pants since on Wednesday she said she would ship them out same day. She said that there was nothing to worry about - that they were on it and there was a good chance that I would have the pants on Saturday. Saturday has come and gone and still no pants, or even an e-mail with a tracking number. How do you say Grrrrrr! in Spanish?

So like in the last post, I am just gathering my last tidbits of stuff. Found these huge freezer bags at Walmart today which will come in handy as well as baby powder to keep things smelling sweet :)

I am going to finalize our income taxes, set up pre-payments for bills, and basically get things in order. As I woke up from my siesta this afternoon, I can't help but to think that this same time next week I will be arriving in St Jean, trying to get my bearings straight, wondering what I am doing in such a strange land. Lets just hope that I have pants to wear !

Only One Week Left

I have not trained since last Sunday. I made the decision to allow my body to heal from the workouts, especially my feet. I walked 10 miles last Wednesday using new heel inserts in my boots, trying to protect a bruised heel. The inserts tore my heels apart, leaving me with a very large blister on my right heel, a few smaller ones on the other side of the same foot, and a couple of smaller blisters on my left foot. So out with the heel inserts.

Last Sunday I walked with new full length gel inserts. I only went 4.5 miles as my feet were still tender from the 10 mile blister disaster. There were no problems.

Today I spent some time gathering the smaller supplies that I need for the Camino. I had already purchased the boots, the sleeping bag, and the backpack. But I still needed to get a headlamp, safety pins, rope (to hang myself if the walk becomes too painful), batteries for my one luxury item, my CD player, small toiletries, a rain cover for my pack.

I finally broke down and purchased some walking sticks. Zillions of posts on the Internet swear by them - they say that they will save your knees and your hips, can be used to fend off wild dogs and other savage beasts, and can double as a clothes line. So what the heck - I now have some.

What I don't have yet is pants!!!! Those who have been following me on the Camino website know the trouble that I was having in finding technical pants that fit me. Finally someone put me in touch with a company near Boston who specialize in 'extended' sizes. I like that term. To make a long story short, I finally got them last Wednesday, tried them on, and they were too small. So I sent them back and after watching the Canada Post tracking system say that they were still in Canada after 3 days, I called the Boston company directly this past Wednesday. There is a very friendly lady there who said that she would send me two pairs of replacement pants right away, and would e-mail me the tracking number. Two days later I have not heard back from her, nor do I have a tracking number. So I am going to call her tomorrow because having the proper pants is a make or break for the sucess of my walk. Otherwise, I will have to take my toga!!!!

Training – After getting home late from workone night, I had a large supper, had no time for a nap, Leafs game was coming on so I figure I might as well jump on the recumbent bike, at least for an half hour, maybe an hour. It is in my basement in front of a television. Things were going good, felt good and the Leafs were up over the Islanders 2-0 . 15 minutes into the bike ride and ZAP, the power went off....total darkness, no lights, no tv, no leafs.....but after only a couple of seconds.....it comes back on......awesome....wait, off again......comes back on.....oh good.....crap.....off again.....this time to stay off. So what do I do......without missing a beat, I keep on peddling......what else am i going to do???? I check my watch (thankfully it has a light) and it is 8 pm.....so 45 minutes to go. I keep peddling in the total darkness.....after about 20 minutes, my wife who gave up a long time ago wondering if I am sane, came downstairs and left a candle. I never realized before how boring it is on the exercise bike without the TV blaring, radio on, and the dog and cats to watch. I finished the workout, totally soaked from sweat, but I could not weigh myself like I normally do because the candle was not bright enough to show the weight on the scales.

The power came back on after about 2 hours. :)

I am not alone..................

I am not alone...........................

I have been training since I got this idea of walking the Camino last October. As I have already mentioned, I was 300 lbs and looking for a way to turn things around. I live in a rural area, about 15 minutes outside of the skyscrapers and 10’s of thousands of tourists of Niagara Falls.
For my walk in Spain, I am going alone, but I will not be alone. My training walks have all been the same - by myself but I was never alone. You see, on most days, there were several oversized red-tail hawks circling high above me, wondering what this nut was up to. About a half mile from my house, there is a horse with only one eye. He has to tilt his head on the most awkward angle in order to follow me walking by his field. There are often flocks of wild turkeys who carefully keep an eye on me as I walk by them, as well as flocks of Canadian geese who honk so much I think I am back in the traffic jams of Toronto. There are large dogs (on chains, thankfully), squirrels, chipmunks, and sometimes cats. Last week there was a dead skunk (phew).
Let me tell you for a moment about the coyotes. We have several in this rural area – you can often hear them at night when a train goes by, or just when they call each other. One day I got home from work at 5 pm, and I thought that if I got out on the road right away, I could sneak in a 4.5 mile walk. At about the 2 mile mark, the dusk had turned to darkness. Because my walks are large loop patterns, I had no choice but to keep walking. There was no shortcut home. The darker it got, the more I suspected that I was being watched, maybe even followed, by the coyotes. I never saw one during this walk, but it was the quickest 4.5 mile walk I had ever done.
So you can see that although I do my training walks alone, I am never alone. I suspect that the walk on the camino will be the same.

In the beginning, Part 2

Canadian Company of Pilgrim meeting - November 7th
I discovered on the internet that there were groups in Waterloo and Toronto for the Camino. There was a contact person so I wrote him, and told him my story. I asked if there would be room for me to attend the meeting and if there would be a cost. He didn’t reply to my e-mail. Maybe I should have not mentioned that I was not religious? Maybe I should have not mentioned that I was 300 lbs? Maybe they are all tree huggers and for sure, I am not.
But then, about two weeks later, he replied. He apologized for the late reply – he was out of the country – hiking through the Grand Canyon with his daughter. He said that there were no costs to attend these meetings and that although there was a good turnout for the previous spring meeting, there always was room. So I planned on attending.
The meeting was held at Trinity Church, which is on St Clair Ave in Downtown Toronto. It was a very nice fall day, sunny and 18 degrees. The meeting was set to run from 1 until 4 pm. Normally it takes about two hours from Stevensville to Toronto, but I wanted to give myself some extra time so I left at 10 a.m. I tried half heartily to get my wife to come with me, for a companion for the drive and so that she could see what this was all about. She chose to stay behind to tend her flowerbeds. On the way to Toronto on the QEW highway, at about Oakville, there was a back-up of traffic as far as one could see. I was not in a rush since I left a good hour early but just the same, one never knows how long these back-ups might last. If there was a serious accident, it could be an hour. If there was a death, it could be for half a day. So at the first opportunity, I veered off on the exit ramp to the right. A lot of other cars were doing the same. I thought if I followed the cars in front of me, they would know where they were going and in no time, I would be on the highway. What a mistake! A group of about six vehicles, with me in the middle, wound up in one of those subdivisions created in the 70’s – lots of turns, lots of long circular streets, lots of dead end culverts. It was a very nice drive, as all of the mature maples were in full display of their fall colours, and the houses were all in the $750,000 to $1,000,000 price range. These are very beautiful, magnificent houses but because of where they are hidden, they do not get the exposure that they deserve. I am sure their owners prefer it that way. It had to be more than a half hour of driving through these subdivisions before we made it back to the highway. The good news is that the traffic jam was gone. The funny news is that all eight of us were still in the pack – we lost no one, even through all of the turns, twists, and dead-end streets. The bad news is that had I stayed on the highway, it would have been much quicker in the long run.

So back on the highway and back travelling at 110 kph. I was not late but I wanted to get there a bit early. I was told that parking was very limited. The QEW turns into the Gardiner and then I had to make a left onto Spadina. It should only be about 10-15 more minutes. No worries – it was now 12:15 so I would get there 30 minutes before it was scheduled to start. I only got a couple of miles up on Spadina and then the traffic was frozen. Not moving. Looked like it might have been backed up for a while. After the QEW detour incident, I decided I was just going to wait it out. Five minutes go by, then ten, then fifteen! I moved forward about a block, maybe two, in this time. I only had 15 minutes to spare now. I decided to turn off into the subdivision. Another car follows me so I was not the only one thinking this. I turned left, turned right, left again and again, hit a dead in street, had to turn around, the car behind me had to turn around too and was now in front of me. We turned a right, then a left, and a right again. I have no idea what these street names were, I was just trying to find my way out, hopefully onto St Clair Ave. We both wound up re-joining Spadina and actually made some progress. However, upon entry onto Spadina, there was a big cop with his hand up, stopping the car that got in front of me. Now I could see what the issue was. There was road construction going on and the entire intersection of Spadina and St Clair was ripped up. They were allowing the east-west traffic (one land only) to travel on St Clair but nothing was allowed to travel in the north/south directions. No wonder the back-up was so long. My buddy who got in front of me was trapped, being litterley right next to the police officer. However, with my time running out, I became much bolder in my driving decisions. I made a left, cut through a MacDonald’s parking lot, much to the angry stare of the cop, and then proceeded down St Clair Ave.

St Clair Ave is a very busy two lane street, with lots of shops and businesses. The church wound up being quite a way down St Clair Ave. There was parking on the street. As I was watching the addresses get closer to the one that I needed, I was also watching my watch tick down. I was not sure if I should just pick an opening on the street parking, grab it, and run the rest of the way – or if I should try my luck and park closer. I proceed. Then suddenly, the church was there, and there was no parking. But, just a block beyond the church, a person was getting into their car. I waited behind them, tying up traffic behind me. But hey, this is Toronto, and from what I have seen so far today, they must be very used to it. I do a very terrible job under pressure of parallel parking, then check my watch. It is 1.02 pm. I walked quickly to the Church. I saw others walking towards it as well. It appears that they were staring at me – thinking that this fat man must be at the wrong place. There was good signage outside –directing people to the basement of the church.
In the basement, there were many chairs set up, tables set up at the back with people sitting behind them, and a long line-up at the tables. I wasn’t sure what to do so I did what every good Canadian would do – I got into line. It turns out that they were taking membership applications and fees for annual membership in the Canadian Pilgrim Association, and selling crests. I signed up for a membership and bought a crest – I can get my wife to sew it on my backpack (which I did not have) and this way, although I do not look like a pilgrim, I will have a crest saying that I am one. And crests don’t lie!
They had several speakers tell about their tales about walking the camino, including Sue Kenney. There was then a panel discussion with folks who had recently walked it, talking about their pros and cons experienced on their recent trips. The wife of a husband/wife duo said that she had no problem carrying her luggage as her husband carried most of the load. He seemed to enjoy this macholistic description of him. Several people stated that they packed too much stuff and had to lighten their load after a day or two of walking. A minister said that the first thing he threw out was the bible, which had the entire crowd in stitches. There was also about five authors of various books from people who had walked the camino. I bought two of these books. The first one was Robert Ward’s All the Good Pilgrims – Tales of the Camino de Santiago and the second one was by Paul Boers and titled The Way is Made by Walking. I had them both signed by the authors. The first book cost $10 and the second one was $20. They were both paperbacks and about the same thickness. Only time will tell if the content in the one is worth double the content in the second one. I gave the books to my wife so that she could wrap them up for me for Christmas.
They also had one table set up selling travel, and another one with all the various hiking equipment one would need.
The meeting ended at about 4:05 and the traffic was light on the way home. I was glad that I had attended the meeting. The people were nice, very informative, and I felt that I had at least half of a foot in this new club.

In the beginning..............

I attended a seminar last October where one of the speakers, Sue Kenney, spoke about her travels across an ancient trail, beginning in St Jean Pied de Port, France - and ending in Santiago, Spain. This trail, which people began walking in about 900 AD after the remains of St James were discouvered, is 800 kms long. After hearing Sue's leture, I became hooked. Let me explain...........

I am a pilgrim want-a-be.

I am 49, have worked for the same company for over 30 years and in the same job for over 11 years. I have a lovely wife of 25 years and have two grown children (yes, still at home). I have the house, the cars, the toys, everything one could want. I am 5'8, in good health, but in October, was 300lbs.

I was invited to attend (with several others) to an employee sponsored Quarter Century Club (sounds ancient) event on October 16th, 2009, in Owen Sound where Sue Kenney was the guest speaker. Sue talked about her 2001 adventures of walking the Camino. Prior to this, I had never heard of it.

It was a good presentation but nothing special. The video portion of it did not work, so we missed out on that. A presentation later in the afternoon by an employee of the Ontario Achieves office actually was much more entertaining - very funny.

However, the thought of walking the Camino somehow sunk in. And at the same time, the Toronto Maple Leafs, after having one of their worst starts in their history, were talking about "pushing the re-set button".

So here I am , thinking - that's what I need to do. Push my re-set button. I did run a marathon (Detroit Free Press) in 1979, I did referee hockey (up to the Junior A level) for 25 years - I did advance in my career at least once every five years. But for the past 11 years I have stalled.

Although married into a Catholic family, I am not religious. I do not see this as a religious retreat. I do not see this as finding some inspiration on the trail. I find this as a way of pushing my "re-set" button. My expectations are that I will gain more in the journey of getting 'ready' for the walk - as opposed to the walk itself. I have no way of knowing what will come from the walk itself.

Unlike when Sue walked the trail after just winning the World Master's rowing competition and was in peak physical shape, I am not at the peak of my fitness life. In fact, I am at the extreme worst condition of my life. I am 5’8 and 300 lbs. But I have started training. The first week consisted of riding my recumbent bike 30 minutes a day - and yesterday, 60 minutes. Today, I walked for 3 miles (imagining myself walking through Spain as I was doing it), and then rode the bike for 30 minutes. I have begun.

Will I continue, will I get injured, who knows? But it does give me something to strive for. And if I am in good enough shape (whatever that means), I am eyeing up walking the Camino in May.

(previously written in October 2009)