There was a post today about Two Brits found after five days lost in the Pyrenean foothills
You can read it at http://www.thelocal.es/20160817/two-brits-found-after-five-lost-days-near-camino-de-santiago.
It starts out, “The married couple, who have not been identified but are said to be British and from Cambridge, survived by drinking water from livestock troughs after becoming disorientated and losing their way as they crossed from the French town of Saint Jean de Pied de Port towards Spain’s Roncesvalles.”
The responses are interesting going from “scary” to “just follow the arrows.”
Here is my thought on “scary” to “just follow the arrows.” I use to fish on the great lakes in the United States. On a calm day, you could cross the largest freshwater lake in a couple hours and on the way back stop off and take a swim in the middle with no thought of anything but joy of being on the water. I also witness a day we got caught in gail force winds with 10-12 walls of water charging at us with reports of three boats that sunk with orders from the coast guard to get off the water. NOTE: That was exactly what we were trying to do at the time.
When I cross the Pyrenees mountain range the weather was ideal. Not only was it beautiful, it had a light breeze and was cool. It just like a perfect day on the lake. It is not always like that and conditions change. It can be shocking how much it can change.
As for those yellow arrows. There was a love hate relationship going on. Loved when I found them and hated when I had to look for them. Depending upon if you are alone or with someone and depending upon quality of light and clear weather makes a big difference. It is also easy to follow arrows if there happen to be a few pilgrims in sight. This is not always the case.
Coming out of Burgos this was work being done on an over pass and you had to go around. This meant walking through a field. Normally it would not be a big deal and probably a path worn through it, but it was just harvested. No more path. At another road intersection there were some arrows painted by the highway department. In hindsight, they were probably white at one time, but were now faded. Let’s just say it added 4 km to that day.
I could give more examples, but the bottom line is, I no longer see the humor when someone says, “Just follow the arrows”.
We can be thankful, this couple was fond and use it as a reminder to be prepared and plan ahead.
Wishing everyone a Buen Camino. Please note that some of these posts while on the trail are done via mobile device and could contain poor grammar, spell check and auto text placement by the phone. I also do not know the frequency of updates since WIFI may not always be available or enjoying a day of technology detox.