Pilgrimage (Russ and others)

[E. O. Pederson]

As yet another Seattlite (a native at that), I walked the  St. Jean
Pied-de-Port to Santiago portion of the camino in  the autumn of 1998 and
encountered 4 other Americans in 32 days, 2 from San Diego, one from
Bellingham and one from Seattle!

If you have my tendencies to be a gear junkie, I would adivse against too
much shopping at REI.  I took entirely too much with me, for the camino is
well provided with refugios.  A light sleeping bag is about all the camping
gear necessary.  I took a sleeping mat and never used it.  A friend (from
Tacoma) went in 1999 and took complete camping gear including tent and
cooking equipment.  He used the tent a couple of times but sent the cooking
equipment home when he was convinced it would not be necessary.   In 1999 my
wife and I walked the French section of the chemin from Le Puy to Conques,
and the story was the same.  Aside from clothing and toiletries, not much is
needed.

Have fun planning, one of the best parts of any trip.

E. O. Pederson


_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com