Buen Camino
This series is a growing body of work reflecting on the individual days I’ve walked the Camino de Santiago. I first walked the last 200 miles of the French Way of the Camino in 2018, repeated my walk in 2022, and then walked the beginning 300 miles of the French Way in 2023.
Each print includes a complementary statement that accompanies the imagery and serves as a journal reflection, providing additional context and inviting the viewer into the Camino.
The first set of prints was created for my 2025 solo show, “The First 10 Days”, at the Leyden Jar Gallery at the Art Gym in Denver, CO.
"Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago" Day 0 Santiago is almost 800 km away from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port…roughly 500 miles. The train from Biarritz was filled with pilgrims heading to Saint-Jean. It’s clear everyone is on a mission: check into albergues, register at the Pilgrim Office, and prepare to tackle the 1,200 m hike up the Pyrenees – that’s 4,900 feet. At the Pilgrim Office, we got our “Credencial del Peregrino”, pilgrim shells for our backpacks, an extensive list of different places to stay over the next 30+ days, a suggested walking plan, and explicit instructions not to go left at the fork in the road when crossing the Pyrenees, or we might get lost or fall off the mountain. Historically, pilgrims have died crossing the Pyrenees, and I’m hiking solo with an injury. However, I met a Danish couple in their 70s hiking their 7th Camino, and my anxieties were put at bay; if they can do it, so can I. For now, I am enjoying the beauty of this small French mountain town and am in complete amazement at the fact that millions of people have hiked this path before me.
“Family Dinner” Day 1, walking 7.5 km Today was an “easy” 600 m climb up the Pyrenees to Orisson, but it was hot, and we started late. While most people will hike the 24 km trek to Roncesvalles, I decided to split the Pyrenees into two days. There are only two places you can stay before Roncesvalles, and both need reservations. The Refuge Orisson is a very simple gîte d'étape (a private pilgrim hostel) in the Basque Country; there are only 40 beds, but when checking in, we are all invited to a family dinner. Dinner was a traditional soup, and we were all asked to go around the table, introduce ourselves, and share why we each are hiking the Camino. Moments like this on the Camino make it special.
“The Pass to Roncesvalles” Day 2, walking 17 km I could not be more thankful for the weather we had today. Today was a difficult hike, but I would rather have been hiking in fog and light rain than crossing the Pyrenees in the beating sun. At the top of the Pyrenees, we were greeted with a trailer van selling homemade cheese and other refreshments. The albergue in Roncesvalles is massive, with almost 200 beds and run by a group of friars. Today, we thought a fellow pilgrim could have died on the mountain. Thankfully, search and rescue were able to find her before 11 pm. She was at my family dinner the night before, where I found out she was 82! She was hiking alone and got lost, but thankfully, one of the pilgrims from Australia was able to speak Spanish to the police on the phone, and before we sent our own search group, search and rescue found her!
“Parting Ways in Zubiri” Day 3, 22 km I haven’t quite met my “Camino family” just yet. I’m pacing with a slower crowd, but it’s only a matter of time before I find my Camino family, so to speak. Hiking this solo has given me a different perspective, and I can easily see how this could be an isolating experience if you don’t put yourself out there. What I love about Zubiri is the river. It reminds me of my first Camino and how revitalizing the cold mountain runoff feels after a long day of walking. When I joined my three Danish friends for dinner, I sadly found out that one of the women had decided to end her Camino here because she was feeling homesick. Even though we are parting ways, I’m glad we got to share a dinner in this quaint village.
“Puente La Reina” Day 5, 24 km Walking during a heatwave is no joke. Each morning, we have to leave around 5 a.m., or we are stuck walking for a few hours in 90-degree weather. Today was no different, and a few people I met in Orisson were stopping or taking a rest day in Pamplona. Instead, I left my albergue solo as soon as I woke up to beat the heat. I’m still apprehensive about staying in municipal albergues and running into bed bugs, but today I accidentally booked a private room away from the Camino friends I’ve met. I have the room to myself, and it is far too quiet. All these private reservations are making me anxious financially for walking another two weeks. As I sit here staring out at this massive bridge, I know I need to change how I’m going about this Camino. Maybe tomorrow I’ll try out a donativo, cancel my future reservations, and just wing it instead.
“Catching the Farmers Market in Estella” Day 7, 21 km Yesterday was yet another hot day in the books for walking 22 km from Puente La Reina to Estella. Today is supposed to be in the 100s as I head to Los Arcos. Last night, I stayed at my first Donativo. Simple, donation-based, attached to a local church, but it had a nice community space for meals. I met a lot of new faces, but I planned to start walking at 8 this morning so I could catch the weekly farmers market and be at the Wine Fountain when it opens. I learned that the weekly market in Estella has been around since 1164, and while I am here, I might as well go! Leaving nearly 3 hours later than everyone else feels wrong, but the farmers market fruit and veggies are worth it!
“A Pilgrim’s Wine Fountain” Day 7, 21 km Ever since my first Camino, all I wanted to do was go to the free pilgrim Wine Fountain! I love a good pilgrim tradition and couldn’t pass it up. Since I am already committed to walking through the heat wave, I decided to meander the 2 km from Estella to the fountain. Just before the Bodegas Irache Winery, I found a local blacksmith’s forge and bought myself a little iron shell necklace. Shortly after the forge, I found the gates to The Wine Fountain! There was an option to fill my water bottle with water or fill a vessel with some chilled red wine from the monastery. I opted for the latter and filled my little pilgrim shell with some wine, did a little cheers to myself, and went to get a fountain stamp in my Credentials Book at the winery museum.
“Let the Bulls Run in Los Arcos” Day 7, 21 km I opted for an alternate route today, following a suggestion for a more scenic, less trafficked route. I met an Italian guy walking with massive blisters. I decided walking slower together in the heat was better than both of us walking alone. We found my friend Kevin from Germany at a food truck pilgrim oasis along the way, and the three of us pushed through walking the last 2 hours in direct sun and near 100-degree weather. I was convinced to stay at an 8€ municipal albergue with a group of 20 Italians. The place was certainly worth 8€…but hey, community right? Later, I met up with a friend from Orission to explore the town. With everyone wearing white and red, I was convinced we were going to see a running of the bulls. The streets were FILLED with food, music, and people! We followed the band up the street, dancing and eating free food and drinks. When the music stopped, the crowd pulled tables into houses as the police began securing fences to block off the main street. A handful of men in athletic clothes went into the main street, and the four bulls began to run! As the bulls ran past us, the men would jump over the fence for safety, then hop back over and repeat the process. We went to a plaza, ate some churros, and watched the bulls run after people before making it back to our albergue before curfew. This day and this albergue are brutally hot…but completely worth it for the day we had.
“Torres del Río by Sunrise” Day 8, 28 km Last night was the absolute worst night of sleep of my life. I think I slept for a total of 2 hours in Los Arcos…the bed would radiate your body heat back to you, and you’d stick to the “sheets” and be forced to toss and turn throughout the night to avoid sleeping in a puddle of sweat. I was so, so, so motivated to get the heck out of that albergue. I woke up naturally at 4:45 a.m. and left by 5:15. I walked to Tores del Río in 1 hour and 15 minutes. I absolutely crushed that 8 km walk, and the cool morning air and pitch-black sky were 100% better than sleep. I ran into an Italian friend, Annalisa, who stayed in Tores and joined her for breakfast just in time to catch a spectacular sunrise. Someone kept trying to direct me when I was taking a photo of the church, but all I wanted was a picture to remind me how stunning the clouds looked. Off to Logroño we go. We are staying at another donotivo Annalisa suggested, but it’s first-come, first-served for a bed, or you sleep on a floor mat.
The following prints were created during my Create Award Residency in 2022 at the Art Gym. After first walking from Leon to Santiago de Compostela, this experience ultimately set the ball rolling for this series.
“Lay It All Down At The Cruz de Ferro”, Day 4, walking 25 km: The day started slow and late. Just 7 km into our walk, we reached the highest point of the French Way at the Iron Cross, Cruz de Ferro. Surrounding Cruz de Ferro is a mound of rocks. The tradition is pilgrims will carry a rock on their back from their place of origin to lay down at the cross to symbolize their journey. So I added my rock from home to the pile. Spirits were initially high for our descent down, but my pace slowed when I chose to walk with some in the back. The day was getting later and later, and suddenly we were caught in a thunder and lightning storm mixed with some hail. We had no option but to run down the mountain as fast as possible. That night we became a Camino family. We laughed off the day in our albergue bunk beds and realized we still had a long and exciting road ahead.
"Finding Rest in Villafranca", Day 5, 30 km: We learned our lesson from yesterday and started today walking at sunrise, like most pilgrims. We had our cafe con leche and bread for breakfast in front of a Medieval castle in Ponferrada, and before we realized it, we were already at our next albergue. After a quick nap, we scrapped our plan, got ice cream, and took a taxi about 10 miles to Villafranca so we could take the next day off to rest and enjoy the town. We stayed at one of the best albergues! We learned that the owners of Albergue Leo once lived there, but after they lost a child, they turned their home into a place for pilgrims. It was a special and restful place for us to be.
"A Long Road Ahead": It's day 2, and the longest distance planned for our trip, roughly 20 miles. Yesterday we left Leon and walked about 10 miles, or 17 km, and everything was flat. We are still figuring out the pace of our group of 13. The first two hours were flat with just a straight endless road surrounded by grass, farms, and power lines. On the horizon were dark storm clouds, and we soon found ourselves in a torrential downpour surrounded by lightning and finding shelter in a barn. Thankfully the farmer welcomed us with open arms and let us wait out the storm. Despite starting the day with some misfortune, we were greeted with refreshments from David’s Fruit Stand just before reaching Astorga! The guidebooks talked about him, and much to our surprise, he does exist, along with the free homemade cake, fruit, and hammocks.
“Walking Sticks to Rabanal del Camino”, Day 3, walking 19 km: At the start of our day we could see the mountain range we would eventually cross. Being from Colorado, I felt good about hiking with some elevation gain, but others in the group were beginning to feel sore from yesterday. Some have a few blisters, but nothing tape and blister bandaids could solve. As we walked through small mountain towns, we came across several walking sticks for pilgrims. We soon all had our walking sticks and began to tackle the incline step-by-step. When we finally reached Rabanal, we met some pilgrims in our Albergue from Switzerland, did our laundry, and laughed around the dinner table before listening to Gregorian Chanting at a local church in town.
“At the Heart of O Cebriero”, Day 7 of walking, 28 km: There was something special about Villafranca that made it hard to leave. We met up with our Camino friends we walked with since Rabanal. We exchanged hellos with various pilgrim friends from Germany, Malta, California, and Eastern Europe over dinner. We were sad to leave this place but eager to reach O Cebreiro and see the oldest church along the French Way. Legends of miracles and centuries of history made O Cebrieiro feel set apart from other places. It was small yet felt special. Reaching the village of O Cebreiro meant climbing another mountain to the region of Galicia, the region home to Santiago de Compostela.
“Albergue A Roboleira”, Day 8, 19 km: We are almost out of another mountainous region, but we are staying in a town called Triacastela. Cattle in fields surround us at Albergue A Roboleira, which has a palloza! We learned pallozas are unique to Galicia and are oval-shaped structures with straw-like roofs. Dinner in the palloza was the best meal we experienced. It was one big community dinner shared at a long table with people from all around the world. We learned the owners built the structure by hand as we shared a traditional Galician stew with wine.
“Samos Reflections”, Day 9, 11 km: We took the optional route to Samos to see one of the largest Benedictine monasteries in the world! As we walked into the valley from dense trees, we saw Samos beautifully surrounded by green forests, hills, and a calm river. We walked across a bridge with shells that welcomed us into the town. Before dinner, our group took time in silence to sit by the river and reflect on our trip. We shared some of our reflections throughout the pilgrimage over dinner and enjoyed each others company.
“The Noise in Portomarin”, Day 10, 22 km: The theme of today is distractions. Every morning our group started walking with two hours of silence, which helped us all find our groove for the day and gave us a chance to walk alone in our thoughts. Now the trails are packed with people, and there is noise everywhere. We only have a few days of walking left before we arrive at Santiago for the feast day celebration of St. James on the 25th of July. Today is the 20th of July, and the trails will only be more packed than at other times of the year because of the national holiday. Tomorrow is a new day, and maybe we will switch up our walking routine to beat the crowds and noise...I now understand the advice against being a negative veteran pilgrim.
“Just After Sarria”, Day 11, 12 km: As we prepared to walk to Sarria, we heard a tip from a Camino guidebook. Essentially the advice was to have patience and not be grouchy veteran pilgrims to those starting in Sarria. Sarria is the minimum starting distance for the Camino to receive your Compostela, the accreditation of the pilgrimage to the Tomb of St. James. A few requirements go into acquiring a Compostela, and the minimum distance is 100 km on foot or horseback. To track distance, pilgrims collect stamps and dates on the Credential del Peregrino, a pilgrim passport. You receive stamps at churches, restaurants, monasteries, cathedrals, and when checking in at albergues along the routes. Starting the Camino in Sarria draws hundreds more people, meaning having loud, crowded trails... we tried our best not to be grouchy veteran pilgrims amongst them.
“Into Ribadiso”, Day 13, 26 km: We walked about 25 km from Portomarin to Palas de Rei yesterday and made our dinner in the albergue for the first time during our trip. Today we walked 26 km to Rivadiso, and it was by far the hottest and hardest day I’ve experienced for myself. The heat and fatigue slowly got to me, despite being used to walking. My ankle injury from a few months ago was beginning to act up, but just as we were approaching Rivadiso, we saw people standing in a creek below a bridge, laughing and talking. A woman from the Netherlands who had been carrying her cello and a group from England. They told us the water was ice cold, and we immediately dropped our backpacks off in our albergue, put our sandals on, and went to the creek to ice our feet.
“All Roads Lead to Santiago de Compostela”, Day 15, 19 km: ¡Buen Camino! Today is the day we made it to Santiago de Compostela! It’s the 24th of July and the day we made it to Santiago! I never imagined being here on the Camino or, let alone, walking this with little distress and no blisters. I am still in disbelief that we finished today and walked about 19 km in about three hours! We walked the last kilometer barefoot as a group and saw some Camino friends we thought we said goodbye to days ago. We are all smiles now as we marvel at the beauty of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and the experience as a whole. The city is preparing for the national holiday tomorrow, and we can’t believe we have our Compostelas in our hands; we officially walked 304 km across the French Way!