It was Martin Luther King Jr. who said: “If you can’t fly, then run, if you can’t run, then walk, if you can’t walk, then crawl, but by all means keep moving!”  I have come to believe that this statement is perfect for describing my experience on all of my Camino’s.  It is in the constant movement forward that everything, every experience, every incredible moment occurs.  And yet it is not speed that we seek, it is the slow steady pace of one step after another one million times over the 32 days that makes the journey what it is and what it is not.  Our modern life is one of movement from one place to another and one thing to another.  And the movement is fast and in the speed of our movement we miss a huge part of life.  You see, you can only walk so fast, and you must pay attention to where you are going and your surroundings and are subject to unexpected moments that I call Camino Moments. 

One of my favorite moments of most every day on the Camino was when the sun rose in the eastern sky.  You see the Camino Frances is a journey from East to West, and every day the sun would rise from behind.  You could begin to feel it happening and it was almost always a spectacular moment at the beginning of each day.  I am one of those Pilgrims who would most always start in the darkness of the early morning.  I slept in my clothes and would generally wake up around 6 am and be out the door by 6:30 am.  Sunrise in September would happen about an hour into my walk, and most days I was alone at that time of day.  Generally, by the time the sun would peak over the horizon, it would be light enough for me to have turned off my head lamp (or torch as the English would call it), and then I could begin to experience the gradual and subtle change in the light as I moved forward on my journey.  It was one of my favorite parts of the day and there was not a single part of the Camino that lacked a spectacular sunrise. 

I don’t notice sunrises when I am home because I am not generally outside at that time of day.  Sunrises from March to October come much earlier than they do in Spain because of how we are positioned in our time zone.  On the Camino, I was bathed in the experience most every day on my journeys.  I met many of my Camino friends at Sunrise because everyone would stop and watch and ooh and aah at the spectacle.  The thing is a Camino sunrise is no more or less beautiful than a sunrise in any other place.  But it is more special because you are existing in the elements and vulnerable to them.  One begins to appreciate and be inspired by this sense of vulnerability, and I could understand how those who lived in the open spaces might see the sun as a divine entity.  Certainly, there is a worshipful experience that occurs at every sunrise on the Camino.  You feel the loving presence of this divine creation of life and the beauty that is all around and within everyone.  It is the reason I used one of the sunrise pictures I took as the cover for my book “Heaven is Walking the Spiritual Path”. 

One particular sunrise I remember is on the walk from Ages to Burgos.  The walk was especially dark in the beginning and the early light began to emerge as I ascended the main hill.  The trail was quite rough, and I had to pick my steps carefully.  There is a cross at the crest of the hill and just as I passed the cross the sun began to show itself on the horizon and I was able to capture what I consider a special picture that inspires me every time I see it. 

When I was walking from La Herrerias at the base of the mountain climb that leads to O’Cebreiero, I also left my Albergue in the dark and walked the steepest part of the climb in the darkness of early morning.  As I came to the monument, that signifies we are crossing into Galacia, it was there that the sun began to show up.  As I stopped to admire the monument a couple of Pilgrims I had met briefly a couple of days before, Adriana and Cleber from Brazil, showed up and took my picture.  It was a beautiful place to watch the sunrise.  We ended up walking the rest of the day together and Cleber was busy filming the walk for his Youtube Channel.  You can view that day at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hvcDQXHUG0&t=2s.  It was a fun day making new friends.

My Caminos live in me and color my life in so many wonderful ways.  The memories are vivid, the sunrises are spectacular, and the people are exquisite.  If you have not yet done a Camino in Spain you have much to look forward to.  If you have done one or more Camino’s you know what I am sharing is an affirmation of this special moment in your life. 

Buen Camino

Stephen Towles