Day 15e: Sisyphusian Saunter; Jobian Jaunt … (04/29/2019)
One of the greater challenges I experienced during The Walk was not knowing exactly where I was headed, especially during the early portions of the trek that traversed Germany & Switzerland — two countries where the Camino de Santiago was not nearly as popular, and thus two countries where the Camino routes were not as clearly marked (and often not marked at all). As a result of this aforementioned lack of popularity, the trail authorities in these two countries tended to piggyback their current Camino routes onto already established hiking trails. Not a bad thing to do per se , and I was thankful that The Way in these regions was marked at all, AND YET doing so did provide additional challenges that the more well-used pilgrimage routes did not demand.
You see, the standard Camino routes in the days of old flowed through the wilderness from town to town (actually, from healing spring to healing spring, and later from church to church) — providing pilgrims with regular waystations in which to obtain water, food, solace, and lodging. More modern-day hiking trails, on the other hand, are intended to provide access to natural beauty more than physical respite, and as such tend to flow through that same wilderness from one scenic vista to another, with no consideration at all for the basic survival needs of those walking along them. After all, day-hikers — unlike pilgrims — tend to access their walking trails by driving to various trailheads at the start of their hikes, and day-hikers — also unlike pilgrims — tend to bring all necessary sustenance with them when they do so.
And so it was that I found myself on this day traversing a Camino route that was actually a hiking trail — and thus a Camino route that, for over 15 consecutive miles, repeatedly flowed towards various villages along the way (Bad Bellingen and then Bamlach and then Blansingen and then Huttingen and then Efringen — all villages where I could quench my ever-growing thirst), only to veer sharply away from the same whenever I got tangibly close thereto … :O
“The hardest tests on the spiritual road are the humility to see the right moment, the courage to then leap into LOVE, and the determination to persist in doing so even when intensely disappointed with what is encountered therein & thereafter … So be brave my friends. Be brave while walking for what you believe in — especially when walking alone.” ~ via Paulo Coelho & Roy T. Bennett
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