Day 4: Up and Over the Hill to Penasco!

This was going to be a grueling day--the hardest one on the pilgrimage.  The reason it was hard because of the change in altitude: sea-level man here walked up to 11,000 feet above sea level.  Wo!

We started off without breakfast, leaving Mora's High School gym at 5 a.m.  We stopped at a lovely chapel for a snack and "encuentros' or visit.  Breakfast was going to be at a beautiful Penitentes' Morada. Again, like so many of the Moradas, it looked like a Catholic gift shop set up in a small house, with a focal point of Jesus' bloody visage somewhere in the house.  Most people speak Spanish in a Morada.  I learned that to be a Penitentes, one has to ask to be one.  Penitentes don't evangelize.  And Penitentes cannot be divorced, and I would add "gay." They are usually sons of fathers who are Penitentes who are now members.  Bountiful breakfast on a cold morning, with a small fire in the fireplace.

There was an older gentleman from Colorado whose house we walked by on the way to Penasco.  He ran out with his camera and took pics, and soon was walking with us!  We got a convert!

The road up to Holman Pass was a winding zigzag path, dirt road, in a heavily forested area, with a creek running nearby.  Enrique kept walking too quickly, taking long pauses that made my muscles seize.  UGH!  So, along with my friend Marty (and his suggestion), we walked without the group, ahead of the group, so that my muscles didn't seize.  We walked before the gia, walking up over Holman Pass.  And lo and behold I got in trouble for walking before the gia (crucifix), even though we asked leadership if it was OK before we did it. Leadership is not going well on this pilgrimage.

From Holman Pass, the scenic vista was breathtaking.  Beautiful!  Getting over the Pass was beautiful too.

Our destination was Sipapu Ski Resort, where members of Penasco's Catholic Church picked us up.  Amen!  Mass was at 5, dinner after, and an early night to bed, with a promise of getting up late the next morning since we were walking only 14 miles the next day.

Phew!

Day 3: Cold to Hot, to Mora

Amazingly enough, it was cold enough this morning that when we started the pilgrimage we found a water bottle with frozen water in it on the side of the road.

Up at 3, and off we walked at 5...or that was the way it was supposed to be. We waited about an hour this morning for the buses to arrive to take us to the jump off point for the 23 mile pilgrimage.  Sadly, the buses never arrived.  So we quickly made places in what vans, trucks, and minivans we had, and left Las Vegas, NM.

We were dropped off at a church down the road...of course, the church was not open at 5:30 a.m., and the person who was to open it up was not up and around. So, wrapped tightly in warm clothes, we were off.

Every morning it is a silent walk, which I so appreciate.  Of course, it is always coldest before the dawn, and this morning is no difference.  We walked into the darkness of the morning, seeing the sun rise slowly over the east.  Mountains before us.  Trees all around us.  Amazing to behold. 

We were walking quickly.  Enrique--Rektor--walks way to fast, even though he is getting the worse blisters.  He is 23 y.o., and it shows in his exuberance for leading the first time.  We keep making it to places faster than we should, throwing off the schedule, so we take more and more long breaks.

Lunch was visiting a chapel--an encuentros at a capilla--and we had bananas!  Finally.  I made much noise about this, and we had bananas from that morning on.

We walked in and among ranches and homesteads, cattle ranches everywhere...at one point we even walked among the cattle who were scared and running away from us.  Fun sight to see.

Much of our walk today was on dirt path today, making it easy on the shins.  Much praying of the rosary, with Mary and Elizabeth as our focus throughout much of this pilgrimage.  A fascinating feminine vision of the Holy.

Tonight?  Mora!  And great green and red chili!

Buen Camino!

Brett

Day 2: to Las Vegas! (NM)

Woke up at 3 a.m.  I could watch them turn on the light as I got little sleep that night.  Packing all the gear and getting in line in "Formation," starting off with Morning Prayer, stretches, and then breakfast, we are on the road by 5 a.m.  On the left is Starvation Peak and St. Rita's Church.  It is cold, because it is always cold before the dawn. 

We walked to Tetelote and the church there, along with another small chapel (capilla) up the road, taking two 10-30 min. stops at each place.  The food and drink is good, but the rituals of our stops takes time from the walk as we kiss the gia and banner of the hosting church or chapel, words of introduction, eat, drink, bless those who fed us, listen to the history of the people of the capilla, go to the bathroom, all before we can get on the road again.

Last Vegas, NM is NOT Las Vegas, NV.  It is a small historic town, with a charming historic district.  We stopped at an historic Catholic church that was not open, and then walked to the Catholic family center, where lunch was waiting!  Today we walked 19 miles.  Lunch was sandwiches, and dinner was spaghetti, which is always great for walking the next day (22 miles, carbo load).  The showers in this center was great.  I was the reader for that evening's Mass, in which the priest gave a decent homily on the life of pilgrimage and welcoming the pilgrim. Tonight we also had a talk by a deacon, talking about his work as a deacon in the Catholic church. The sleep this evening was solid as I was in the mood to catch up to last night's horrible sleep.

Highlights: seeing a Carnegie library in the middle of town; the Victorian styled houses; and getting Emergen C fromWalgreens.  Now if I/we only could get some bananas.

Starting in Bernal, NM

In the next few days I'm going to write posts from my pilgrimage from Bernal, NM to Chimayo, NM.  It started on Sunday afternoon, May 27, 2012 and ended on Sat. morning, June. 2. 

It was the usually sunny NM day, with the sky shaped like a blue bowl covering the entire horizon. The gathering of pilgrims happened slowly throughout the afternoon, with 23 of us joining together (though 30 had signed up for this path).  We met at the Bernal Community Center, home of the Bernal Blue Jays.  Outside Bernal was this Pedernal (of Abiqui) lookalike rock formation, a.k.a., Starvation Peak. It was a great marker to designate the beginning of the pilgrimage.

We said the rosary that night at St. Rita's Church, a saint whose background still remains mysterious to me.  She seemed to be abused by her husband, and saved--both physically and spiritually from the abuse--by the hand of God.

Morning Changes

Here's the change about to be experienced: I woke up at 7, leisurely, with cup of coffee brewed, dogs fed, morning news, computer on lap.

On pilgrimage? Up at 3:30 or so, moving by around 5 or 6, on the road walking until 12 or 1.  Quite the change.  Walking with no cell phone, no computer...detox!

Buen Camino!

Brett

So the shoe (above), a Merrell shoe, is similar to the shoes that I'm going to wear on the pilgrimage to Chimayo.  Walking from Bernal, NM to Chimayo, NM.  Six days.  120 miles (or thereabouts). It should be a wonderful change of pace from what I'm currently living.

Leaving Sat.!

Buen camino!

Brett

Wearing Walking Shoes in the Hot Days of Spring

I'm getting my feet ready for walking to Chimayo, NM.  I'll be taking the eastern trek this time, having taken the north and south trek path.  There are two more ways that I want to walk to Chimayo: the north and the one from Albuquerque. 

In preparation, I am walking around with my walking shoes.  I've had my shares of blisters, and hope and pray to the Holy One that this will NOT be a day after day experience of blisters.  I wear a pair of Merrell shoes these days (see below).  They work the best for my vote. I tried a lovely pair of Vasque, and they ripped my feet apart within a few hours.  Not days, hours.  Bloody blisters on the back.  Just not pretty.

Preparation: it matters.  Just like life: preparation matters.

Buen camino!  Brett