[Gocamino] Re: weather, gadgets, guides, and Providence

[Grant Spangler]

Yes, by all means, please eschew al modern amenities, conveniences and 
technology.
Including, but not limited to, air travel, telephones, email, modern 
footwear, clothing, backpacks and flush toilets. I am the minimalist’s 
minimalist whilst on the Camino. This does not mean I do not use every tool 
in the toolbox. I travel very light. I pay attention to the external 
accoutrements while preparing, so I can pay attention to the Journey within 
while walking. I find I have more focus on the spiritual Road when I am not 
plagued by blisters or heat stroke.

Here is a posting where weather played a pivotal role for a British pilgrim. 
We all make choices: some good, some not so good. The more informed you are, 
the better your choices become.  Thousands of our pilgrim predecessors had a 
much rougher go of it than we. They had poorer footwear, nutrition, 
clothing, roads and lodging compared to what we have available. Does this 
mean in order to have an authentic experience we embrace only 12th Century 
ways? Perhaps not.  The Internet allows the free interchange of abstract 
things like thoughts, and faith. It also allows access to real-time 
information which can assist in planning your day, or perhaps avoiding 
disaster.

The posting …

A Perilous Route Napoleon
Author: Roger
Date: March 22, 2005
Time: 18:07

Well, here I am, three weeks later, sitting at home writing about my Camino 
from SJPP to Santiago via Roncesvalles via the Pyrenees. I started the walk 
in Le Puy but that’s another story. On arriving in SJPP I spotted Jeannine 
waving from a second floor window of the Refuge Saint-Jacques. Greeting me 
on the doorstep she showed me all the amenities, this done in her own 
imitable way with much hilarity and laughter. During this time, much to my 
disappointment, she said that under no circumstances should I cross the 
Pyrenees. Whilst getting supplies in the village store a woman gently took 
my arm and asked if I was crossing the Pyrenees. I replied that it was an 
option. On hearing this she asked if I would come and speak to her daughter 
who spoke fluent English. I obliged, and listened as her daughter told me 
that it was virtually impossible to cross as the snow was the worst they had 
in twenty five years, also that a body of a man was brought down from the 
mountains two days earlier. On hearing this, I made a firm decision to take 
the road route to Roncesvalles, and then phoned my family back in England to 
inform them of my decision. Back at the refuge I was cooking a meal with 
Jeannine, when in walked Carlos Costa, a five foot seven inch Spaniard with 
all the energy and enthusiasm of a mad March hare. His first word was 
“Pyrenees” as he signaled with his hands that he wanted to go over the 
mountain, and indicating how his legs would power through the snow. We ate 
dinner carried on with the usual introductions, then said bon nuit to 
Jeannine. Once in the dormitory Carlos, undaunted by the prospects ahead, 
pulled out a travel book showing a slightly more detailed map of the route 
than the one issued to us at the refuge. Also, a rather sophisticated 
looking phone appeared. “Is that a satellite phone?” I asked, “Yes”, he 
replied. This, along with a professional mountaineering backpack and 
relevant gear, led me to believe he probably new what he was up against. And 
yes, against my better judgment I would agree to cross the Pyrenees with 
him. This would turn out to be one of the worst decisions I have ever made 
in my relatively short forty years of life. An early start saw us leaving at 
7:00 am, by 10:00 am we met our last human contact before we were in the 
mountains proper. Once again we were warned of the dangers ahead, and after 
ten minutes conversation, along with Costa’s confidence that everything was 
in hand, the advice was ignored. We decided to carry on. Two hours later we 
were permanently knee deep in snow; this was the going through the rest of 
the journey. Onwards and upwards we started to make some distance between 
each other, myself ahead of Costa. I was concerned we were losing daylight, 
and my water supply needed to be replenished before darkness. Reaching the 
water point went from relief to annoyance as the fresh water tap was not 
working. Adjacent was a small stream of water with which I filled my water 
bottle. This would turn out to be a mistake. Around 6:00 Costa had caught up 
and we walked together for the next hour. Then the weather suddenly changed, 
within five minutes a bitter blizzard had blown up. It can only be described 
as ferocious with a scathing wind; you could not see the hand in front of 
your face. Costa was running round in circles shouting, “Sign, sign, look 
for a sign!” I started to dig a hole with my bare hands, as I had lost my 
gloves earlier. I shouted to Costa, “Dig, man, dig!” My hands frozen, I 
could dig no more. I then retrieved my survival bag which I had 
subconsciously placed at the top of my rucksack the previous night, and got 
into the bag. At this point Costa was still standing around, and I shouted 
then indicated for him to get in the bag with me. He did, and after what 
seemed like about half an hour, the bag split. Costa got out, retrieved his 
sleeping bag, and got inside. I wrapped the split bag around myself, but it 
had ceased to become effective against the cold. With great effort I 
retrieved my bag, which incidentally was a one-season summer bag, and got 
inside. The blizzard continued throughout the night. At some point during 
the night I started to throw up large amounts of blood; it later turned out 
this was due to a water-borne disease. With no food or water, snow and ice 
became our only dietary intake. I indicated to Costa to contact the 
emergency services using his phone; this was not possible as he could not 
get a signal. Yes, his phone was a mobile, not satellite phone. The morning 
showed no let up in the weather, and my throwing up of blood had become more 
regular. This continued all day, and the next night bought more of the same 
weather. At no point during this time were we able to leave are sleeping 
bags due to severe weather conditions. With no water, and the deterioration 
of my health becoming a major concern, all that was left for me to do was to 
pray to God for a break in the weather. The second night bought stars and 
clear night skies, a good sign I thought, “Tomorrow will be fair”. It was, 
by 7:30 am on the fourth day. The sun was starting to break through, half an 
hour later we emerged from our bags very weak, with no water, and my feet 
frozen. I made a decision to leave all my equipment on the mountain (my 
rucksack, spare clothes, and a Sharp GX30 mobile phone, at a total cost of 
around £600). The day’s trek was arduous; with no food or water I spent the 
whole day sucking ice. Ten hours later around 5:00 we were about 500 meters 
from Roncesvalles when we were met by the Guardia Civil. That was the last 
time I saw Costa. I was taken straight to a military hospital where I was 
examined; my condition was so severe that I was rushed to the Pamplona 
general hospital. Once there, I was told the frostbite on my left foot was 
so severe, I would have to have all the toes on my foot amputated. I thank 
God this decision was later reversed. I also suffered severe reflux in my 
esophagus, leaving me unable to eat for the six days I spent in hospital. At 
this moment I would like to thank all the staff at the Hospital Virgen del 
Camino. I signed myself out of hospital two days before my expected 
discharge date and flew home. It will be another two months before I am 
fully recovered. It will take that long for the damaged nerves in my feet to 
heal; I equate the pain to having all of my toes broken. I urge anyone 
thinking of using route Napoleon to seek local advice and stick to it.

Roger
Buen Camino

I provide the group of links and weather-related Camino information as a 
service to others. Many questions fielded by neophytes are related to 
climate, gear, clothing and transportation. You may choose to use, or not 
use, any climatic information contained therein. There is an old saying 
among seafarers, "Pray towards Heaven, but row towards shore". It is the 
combination of faith and action that gets the desired results.

Onward,

Grant

Grant Spangler
GASpangler at hotmail.com
http://groups.msn.com/ElCaminoSantiago
http://community.webshots.com/user/ElCaminoSantiago