Day 11, Oct 8: Padrón to Santiago de Compostela - COMPLETE!

Distance walked 26.47 km, 16.45 miles, 1667' climbed.

The majestic Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

Today I finished my Camino, after about 172 miles of walking in 11 days. This post will describe the facts and details of the last day; I hope to write separately in the next few days about the emotions and lessons learned.

I left Padrón just before 6 a.m. today, and enjoyed the early hours of quiet.

Many of my steps were just pure delight today:

Here's one of those places where the route leaves a paved road for a wonderful little side trail:

In good time, the trail brought me into Santiago, the physical end of the Camino. It was pretty emotional to join the many hundreds of pilgrims, coming from various directions along their own routes. Some laughed and shouted; some cried and kneeled. Some danced and celebrated. There was room for everyone.

The cathedral inside is beautiful; an organist was practicing when I arrived, and the sound was magnificent.

See those horizontally-protruding organ pipes?

The main attraction is in the crypt.

The tomb of St. James.

I'll come back later to participate in a mass and hear more of that organ!

SOMETHING THAT REMINDED ME OF BONNIE

I haven't always had good views of stars when I started my hikes in the pre-dawn hours. Often clouds or city lights made them hard to see. But today was better:

Seeing my old friend Orion the hunter (upper left) reminded me of star experiences with Bonnie. Once when we were camping at Bryce National Park on a cold, moonless fall evening, I convinced her to go out later at night, drive to a remote location, and see a full night sky. She was utterly flabbergasted! The Milky Way stretched its creamy band across the heavens, and the rest of the expanse was filled with myriad twinkling dots. She talked about her feelings and memories of that night for years.

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL IN GOD'S CREATION

I use a small rechargeable flashlight that clips to my belt, and on its lower setting, illuminates a little pool in front of me:

As I walked this morning, I sang softly to myself:

The night is dark, and I am far from home;

Lead thou me on!

Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see

The distant scene—one step enough for me.

Those thoughts feel so appropriate for me right now. I am navigating my whole life one small step at a time, with God's help!

INTERESTING PEOPLE ALONG THE WAY

So many joyful pilgrims today! Some who stood out include two couples who appeared to be Chinese (based on appearance and strongly-accented speech). But they told me they were living in Texas and Virginia. When I mentioned I was from Utah but had lived in Virginia, and that my wife was from Virginia, we had a long chat. They had been to Utah to hike and to ski. One of them asked me, "Why isn't your wife here hiking with you?" That led to another good talk. They were impressed by my devotion to her, both throughout our marriage and after her passing. They thought that was unusual for most of the Americans they knew!

What a remarkable and truly memorable experience this has been. Stay tuned for one more post to come soon.