Day 7 (5/18) Puente la Reina to Estella

Another new stretch and new city. I have taken a new walking approach this year which is walk-super-fast-to-maximize-mid-walk-cafe-stops and I have been LOVING this approach. And I think it’s helped my body hold up pretty well, all things considered. I was joined by Eimee and Ashley on this walk, and let me tell you, those students can move. We were averaging sub 19 minute miles, and they eventually dropped me with about 2 miles to go (which was totally cool with me — I gave them my blessing). Well done, Ashley, Eimee, Bodie, and Owen!

The Albergue in Estella was super cool. An ecolodge of sorts right next to the river. The renovated building retained some of the Roman architecture. I shared a room with Deya, Marta, and Vivi, and it was nice to get to know them better.

At this point in the trip, we are 35 miles and 187,000 steps into our journey. In 2024, we averaged about 12 miles a day. This year, with several new stops — including the Pyrenees — we are averaging 17 miles a day. Needless to say, people’s bodies are in pretty rough shape between blisters, hip/shoulder soreness, lower extremity soreness, etc.

But luckily, we have a secret weapon, and that weapon is Deya. She approached me a few days ago to say, “Jeff has always wanted to go to San Sebastián. What do you think about getting a bus and surprising him and the group with a beach day?”

Um… yes, yes I think I could go for that.

Never one to miss an opportunity to turn Deya’s act of kindness into a prank, we told students of the beach plan (they were STOKED) and plotted a scheme in which everyone requested a cab instead of walking. The students nailed it. Jeff was very confused by the number of cab requests and was very touched when we revealed the plan.

Day 6 (5/17) — Pamplona to Puente la Reina

New route! New city!

Interestingly enough, I did not consult the syllabus or blog before starting this walk, and I was completely flabbergasted but by the fact that I had no recollection of the section — only to discover that I’d never done it. Heh.

It was our first good weather day and it was a beautiful walk. Big open fields and lots of wildflowers. And some climbing. The air temps couldn’t be more perfect, which was a welcome change from Days 1–3. Given the high number of miles we’ve already logged, much of the group was in pretty rough shape and opted to take a cab, so they got to Puente la Reina early and got to explore the city and attend mass.

Puente la Reina was beautiful. I didn’t explore as much as I would have liked because I was pretty tired after another 17 mile day, but dinner was good and so was the company.

Day 5 (5/16)— Zubiri to Pamplona

Day 5 (5/16)— Zubiri to Pamplona

Written on 5/19

I’m writing this post a mere 3 days after this walk and I can’t remember for the life of me what happened on this day. I think it rained but eventually stopped.

This walk has a combination of forested paths and urban stretches. The albergue is one of my favorites — Aloha Hostel. We ate dinner as a group at a restaurant that I think we visited in 2024, but I’d need to check my notes.

Sidenote — sorry these posts are so bland. I’m bored writing them so I can’t imagine how boring they are to read. Hopefully the next two days are new walks and new cities so it’ll get more interesting. And I’ll try and stay on top of posting. I really have been absurdly tired.

Day 4 (5/15) Roncesvalles to Zubiri

Written on 5/19 (May 15)

Day 4 (5/15) Roncesvalles to Zubiri

I am dropping the pelota on blog updates. Not having my laptop is part of it, but the bigger contributing factor is that we are averaging 17 miles a day and I am exhausted by the time we get to the albergue, unpack, shower, have my celebratory tapas, and debrief the day with the team.

But better late than never.

This stretch was beautiful and also comically difficult because of weather conditions. We started walking in snow. SNOW. And then eventually the snow turned to sleet. So then we walked in sleet. And then the sleet turned to cold rain.

So then we walked in cold rain.

And there was mud.

Lots of mud.

Last Camino, I brought my gaiters as an afterthought and I don’t think they ever made it out of my pack. They have been worn every day this trip.

I unfortunately have no photos from this day because it was too cold and rainy to faff about with my phone’s camera. Take my word for it; it was character building. Good time spent walking and conversing with students and enjoying a break at the Dragon Peregrino pub. I don’t remember what I wrote about Zubiri in 2024, but aspirationally I will revisit these posts and add some cultural and historical intel about the towns and albergues we stay in. The hostel in Zubiri was the same as 2024, as was the dinner location. (Albergue Zaldiko).

Day 3 5/14 Saint Jean to Roncesvalles

 Yep, I’m tired. 

16 miles, 3k elevation gain, rain, mud, wind. Slippery terrain. To say that our first official day of trekking was “memorable” would be…one way to describe it. 

And also…today lands somewhere in my list of top 5 most-beautiful-hikes-of-my-life, so no regrets. Well, I regret that I couldn’t take more photos because it was raining the entire time. 

And also…even when things felt tough, I reminded myself that I wasn’t carrying a 10-day food ration and 20 pounds of extra water (OEL Field Semester), we didn’t have to do a pack float/full swim and belay a dog down a canyon (scouting trip with Russ), and it wasn’t 17 miles with 5k elevation loss + 2k elevation gain and a heavier pack (last month’s backpacking trip with Cory in the Grand Canyon), so it didn’t even crack the top three of “most difficult backpacking experiences” list. 

And also…Mom and Dad, you’ll be happy to know that I hiked in a knee brace and an ankle brace and used trekking poles. My heinous bunions are doing okay and I look forward to getting them surgered after this trip. 

The walk itself was certainly worth doing at least once. Might be a one-and-done for me. I’ll have to check to see if I took any photos. 

After arriving in Roncesvales, we settled in and ate dinner as a group in the albergue that the students stayed in before attending mass. The priest blessed the pilgrims in many languages and wished us well on our journey.

Day 2 (5/13) Madrid to Saint Jean-pied-de-Port

(Uploading photos is difficult on this platform from a phone—I’ll add photos later)

I opted not to bring my laptop this trip (who wants to backpack with a laptop?) so we will test the limits of chat GPT to see if it can transcribe my chicken scratch.

[insert photo of ChatGPT prompt]

Well done, robot overlords!


A brief recap of yesterday, post-plane snack fiasco:

We arrived in Madrid around 3:30 local time. Had to shuttle to the train station from our terminal, so by the time we walked into the hotel, it was just before 6. I love trains, and it was a student’s first time taking a public train!

[insert photo of train]

In Madrid, we are staying at Hotel Mediodia, where we stayed in 2024. It’s a cute boutique hotel conveniently located near the Atocha station and several art museums and parks. Jeff (one of my two amazing co-instructors) and I grabbed a quick bite to eat at a local café before meeting the whole group (currently 21 students, 3 faculty—see you soon, Rylee and Eric!) at the hotel for our first meeting.

We went over the PFT (plan for tomorrow) and distributed clothespins (see blog post about “clipping”) before dismissing the group for the night. Jeff and I went for a stroll to the Plaza Mayor en route to one of our favorite Madrid spots—el Mercado de San Miguel, a food hall specializing in tapas, seafood, cheese, charcuterie, wine—basically it’s the equivalent of my own personal Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. “Come with me, and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination…”


[insert photos of Plaza Mayor and tapas]

We dined on salty fish, olives, and crianza. Solid welcome to Spain!

Oh! My most idiotic moment of the day:

I was assigned room 534. I remember room numbers being hard to find in 2024, so I do a lap of the 5th floor and my room is nowhere in sight. I do a second lap. No room. I sheepishly go to the lobby front desk and explain my plight (“Lo siento. No puedo encontrar mi cuarto.”). The very kind attendant accompanies me to the 5th floor and points out my room—the very first off of the elevator. What. The. What. I felt like a complete asshole. I thanked him and apologized profusely.

Fast forward several hours later, and it happens again. My room disappeared!

No, idiot, there are two staircases leading to separate sides of the hotel…

Okay, now on to Day 2:

8:13 am

Our group met in the lobby at 6:30 (way to be on time, everyone!) to walk to Atocha station to board a train to Pamplona. I am on that train now. Most folks are sleeping or plotting their next clipping victim. Next update in a few hours.

6pm

Greetings from Saint Jean. After my last update, we took the train to Pamplona and immediately boarded a bus to cross over the Pyrenees into France. We arrived in Saint Jean around 1:40– the walk from the bus stop into the city is stunning. Every visual is straight off a postcard, complete with cobblestone paths and narrow alleys and lush green landscapes.

It was too early for us to check into our hostel, so we stood in line waiting for the pilgrim’s office to open. The process was pretty smooth this year, but I remember it being a junk show in 2024. This office is where pilgrims (folks trekking the Camino) officially register and receive their pilgrim passport, which is required to stay in albergues reserved for pilgrims and also required to receive official credit for completing the trek.

After getting our passports, Deya, Jeff, and I were joined by three students for lunch at a café across from the office. I don’t think I will ever tire of charcuterie boards.

[photo of lunch]

We checked in to Hostel 20 Ramuntcho auberge de jeunesse after some moderate faffing about with room reservation issues (all issues resolved), I repacked my backpack in preparation for our first proper walk, and now I’m enjoying a cidre basque at (another) café before our next group meeting.

10:47pm

(The play-by-play updates will not be this frequent in the coming days). 

Group meeting went well—prepping everyone for tomorrow: big miles, elevation gain and loss, chilly temps, and a lot of rain in the forecast. Woof. The students do not seem deterred, and I am confident they will look out for each other. 

After meeting, Jeff and Aaron and I went and scouted the start of the hike and had a great dinner (“we will have all of the tapas!” No, but seriously, we did) before calling it an early night.

Gerbers out.

MTSE Trekking the Camino 2026 - travel day (5/11)

3.5 hours left on our flight from SLC — CDG. If you’re new to the blog, welcome, and apologies for whatever you’re about to read 

I’ve been keeping this blog since 2004 to document international travels, most of which have been study abroad programs. If you want to know what 22-year-old me was like, 1) you can dig through the archives, and 2) my writing style hasn’t changed at all.

If you’re a family member of a student on this program, thanks for sharing them with us. We will take good care of them. If you’re a student on this trip and are actually reading this blog, you are about to embark on a journey into the mind of a total weirdo and I hope it doesn’t make you regret your decision to come on this program, to select your major, to attend Westminster, etc. 

There’s not much to report re: play-by-play of the trip (yet) other than I did get an extra “random” security check, as per usual (is it “random” if it happens EVERY TIME?) I think it was the party shirt. 

Something you should know about me is that I’m a pretty direct communicator, but if there’s one thing that really throws me through a loop, it’s inconveniencing flight attendants. The thought of asking a flight attendant for something (literally their job) is a bridge too far for me. 

On top of that, I am mortified—MORTIFIED—when my beloved partner, Cory, asks for all four treats when the flight attendants come around with the cart and ask which (WHICH INDICATES SINGULAR) treat you’d like. We’ve polled many, many flight attendants on “how many treats is appropriate,” and they all say “it’s totally fine,” but OF COURSE THEY HAVE TO SAY THAT and you know in their hearts and minds IT IS NOT FINE and if everyone took all four treats, we would immediately run out of treats. Tragedy of the commons. 

You’re still reading? Good on you. 

Okay, so why am I sharing this with you? Because I just had a situation and I have no one around to process it with. The stranger sitting next to me seems like a nice enough lad but I can’t burden him with this.

As my parents (hi Mom and Dad) will attest, if I am not fed and watered regularly, I either become a sad sack or a demogorgan. After 40 years of this pattern, I’m pretty good at recognizing early signs of sad-sack-or-demogorgan and can head it off with appropriate feeding and watering.

International flights must be used to having sad sacks and demogorgans on board, because international flights *usually* feed passengers every 15 minutes. Okay, it’s like 45-90 minutes between feedings, but in my previous international flight experiences, getting fed has not been an issue. On this 9 hour flight to CDG, we were fed a decent warm meal about an hour into the flight (~4:30pm MST). 

Fast forward to 9PM, and there have been no other meal services. No snack carts, no biscotti cookies. No Mrs-T’s-Bloody-Mary-mix-please-leave-the-can-no-ice. I kept checking the flight menu for a sign—anything—indicating that snacks were imminent. I was ready to buy an overpriced snacklebox. Finally, after some coaxing from Cory, I dug deep and went for it:







It’s now 9:50pm. I’m shaken to my core. But at least I’m fed. 

2026 blog off to a **stellar** start.