TWO HILLS AND 16 MILES

October 7, 2025

Camino Portuguese, Day 17

Total miles walked today

Padron to Santiago de Compostela

Here it is, the last day of walking. It’s the longest walk and as you can see there are two significant ascents. In fact, the second ascent is continually upward until one reaches the plaza in front of the Cathedral de Santiago. Yes, the last part is up up up.

It was a relatively uneventful walk. There were certainly more pilgrims on the road as we neared Santiago de Compostella, but it didn’t bother me. Certainly the camino from Tui to Santiago is much less crowded than Sarria to Santiago on the Camino Frances. Inside I felt quiet, still. More than halfway there I even stopped worrying that I wouldn’t make the long walk and the climbs. I just kept going, putting one foot in front of the other. Then there came a moment when I saw the spires of the cathedral. I paused and I knew in my heart that I was going to make it.

Every camino I had walked before this there were days that I couldn’t finish because I was exhausted and needed a cab. Heat so oppressive that I couldn’t take another step. I fainted outside of our hotel about 30 feet from the door. The next day I took a cab. Rain that came down in a deluge so I took a cab. Later I learned that a couple who braved the rain said they walked through places where the water came up to their knees. I thought them very courageous.

Not this camino. Sure I had heat, a moderately unpleasant day of rain, and I was tired along the way. But I never stopped. Never took a cab. Never skipped a day. And now I had seen the spires. Suddenly I told Glen that I needed to sit down…quickly. There was a bench along the sidewalk and we sat. He asked if I was ok. I didn’t need to sit because I was fatigued or hurting in anyway; I needed to check in with my spirit. I never stopped, I kept going, and now I was .9 miles from the cathedral. Notice I didn’t say my “goal” or “the end”, because there is no “end” to a pilgrimage. This is just one more part of my spiritual journey that I will be on until I die. Even then I think I will just be on a new part of my camino.