Cam Bostock

The Camino de Santiago… The next adventure begins. Almost 1,000km on the French Way from Saint Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela and beyond to the end of the world! I’m excited to experience something new, a long walk very different to those I’ve embarked on before. A pilgrimage across Spain, through towns and cities alongside thousands of other pilgrims on their own unique journeys. I’m walking with my PCT fam, @Daniel McKinnon 🇦🇺, Emma and @Route To Happiness plus my wife, @Karis Bostock! Follow along for the next 30+ days and join us on this adventure!

The Camino de Santiago!🇪🇸

Ever since completing the Pacific Crest Trail last year, and saying goodbye to my trail friends, Dan, Emma and Dedra, we’ve been planning our big reunion hike! The Camino de Santiago was always one that we were interested in and I’m so excited to finally be here in Saint Jean Pied de Port, ready to begin the journey. I’m also very excited that my wife, Karis, was keen to join us as well! 

We will be walking the French Way on the Camino, almost 1,000km starting in Southern France and crossing Spain to the west coast. We expect to be out here for the next 30+ days and it will be a very different trek to what I’m used to. Less wilderness and solitude and more culture, history and connection. I can’t wait.

Day 1 is typically considered to be the hardest day of the trek, ascending into the Pyrenees mountains from Saint Jean Pied de Port. We had 1,500m of elevation gain throughout the 27km of walking today and we were walking through clouds most of the day. It was beautiful throughout, green pastures, lush forest and a fun mixture of trail and road. We arrived in the town of Roncesvalles with plenty of light left in the day and secured a bed and dinner at the local abergue. Cya tomorrow! 👍 Distance walked: 26.9km Total distance walked: 26.9km

With another scorching day forecasted, we were off early to try and beat the heat. We are learning fast that beating the heat is pretty much impossible though, with temperatures rising with the sun, it’s been 30+ degrees celsius from 9am to 9pm the last 3 days. Regardless, beautiful town stops throughout the day give opportunity for respite; shade, rest and cold drinks at local cafes. Today was another great day, passing by a handful of stunning churches and beautiful countryside. I had some great conversations with new and old friends on their own pilgrimages and arrived at the town of Estella around 2pm to settle in for the afternoon. How has it already been almost a week! Distance walked: 22.1km Total distance walked: 128.4km

The Tour de Mont Blanc! Wow it feels incredible to be back in the mountains, and to be exploring the European Alps for the first time. We will be walking the iconic Tour de Mont Blanc over the next week; approximately 170km and a lot of climbing! We started day 1 from Les Houches where we camped night and headed out counter clockwise on the TMB loop. There was a big climb to start which we crushed and it wasn’t long before the clouds cleared and we had our first views of Mont Blanc and the surrounding ranges. Incredible We took a detour which went through the mountains instead of the valley and made a little side trip up Mt Vorassay which was well worth it. The trail was busy as expected, this is one of the most popular hikes in the world after all… A descent into the town of Les Contamines was stunning and we picked up some food from the grocery store there before making our final climb to our campsite. Overall a challenging and spectacular day of hiking! Excited for the next week. Distance: 34.3km Total distance: 34.3km Elevation gain: 2,430m Total elevation gain: 2,430m

And here comes the heat!🥵 The cloudy, cold weather yesterday was both a blessing a curse. We didn’t get many views, but the walking was extremely pleasant. We know this hike will be warm though, as we are walking through the heart of European summer. We got a taste of the heat to come today, but it was manageable and we were treated with open views of the surrounding country. We descended off the Pyrenees, through stunning little towns, taking advantage of the cafes and supermarkets along the way. We walked a little over 20km today as we ease into bigger milage days and it felt easy and enjoyable throughout the day. We met heaps of other pilgrims today, from around the world, each with their own unique story to share. I’m really looking forward with connecting with others on this journey as we all inch towards Santiago. We arrived at the small town of Zubiri before 4pm, and setup at one of the local albergues. Dinner, editing and some solid relaxation filled the remainder of the day. Onwards to a bigger town(Pamplona) tomorrow! Distance walked: 24.5km Total distance walked: 51.4km

We left the small town of Zubiri early in an attempt to beat some of the heat today. We had another relatively short day planned, only 20km or so to the city of Pamplona - one of the biggest population centres on the Camino de Santiago route. It was beautiful walking all day, a mixture of lovely countryside and small towns. We visited churches is a couple of the towns and got to ring the church bell in one as well! The trail was busy, we crossed paths with many pilgrims today, most of which will also stay in Pamplona tonight. The heat really kicked up a notch towards the middle of the day and we were glad to be making good progress, and arrived in town at about 1pm. We secured a bed in one of the local albergues and explored town a little bit, eating and drinking along the way. Great day! Distance walked: 22.9km Total distance walked: 74.3km

We left our alburgue in Pamplona as the sun was rising and the streets were empty, a stark contrast to last night! There was a coffee shop open on the way out so breakfast and caffeine was consumed and we began our journey for the day. It was about 8km of walking before we reached the edge of town and then spent the day walking through wheat fields and beautiful countryside. Dan, Emma and I took a 5km detour to see a church from the 12th century, Santa Maria de Eunate which was beautiful. It got really hit from about 10am today and by 2pm it was 34 degrees celsius. There isn’t much shade out here but we passed through plenty of towns for breaks and a cold drink at the local cafe / bar. We got to see a bunch of other beautiful churches throughout the day as well, I really awesome day on this pilgrimage and our longest so far. Distance walked: 32km Total distance walked: 106.3km

The final chapter to our Camino adventure. After an optional 3 day walk from Santiago to Finnesterra, we decided one more day wouldn’t hurt. Today we made the 30km walk from Finnesterra to Muxia as a final goodbye to this incredible pilgrimage. It was actually so beautiful all day, with perfect weather. We walked mostly on roads, but there were very few cars or people and we were walking through forest, and along the coast all day. The sun came out to say hi just in time for a quick stopover at a spectacular beach so of course we had a quick swim(the water is soooo cold). We arrived in the small town of Muxia, right on the edge of the world, with the vast Atlantic reaching the horizon in almost every direction. We said goodbye to Sarah in Finnesterra and today we said goodbye to Barry as he planned to stay a night in Muxia, whilst Dan, Emma and I caught a late afternoon bus back to Santiago de Compostela. We have a few days of travel/rest ahead before we enter the next stage of our Europe hiking trip. Next up: TMB and GR54. Mountains we are coming for you!! Distance walked: 32.7km Total distance walked: 984.1km

Descents are harder than ascents… What a special day, I don’t think it’s really possible to have a bad day out here in the alps. We arose around 6am this morning but waited in our tents until after 7am because of rain. We had a steep climb to kickstart our day and just insane light and landscapes in view the whole way up. After peaking, it would be a loooong descent into Courmayeur, which is a pretty iconic Italian mountain town. We considered taking the chairlift down but decided against it, we are too elitist for that… haha. 1,500m down hurt, the legs were wobbly when we hit the bottom that’s for sure! A 2 hour rest in town was well needed, we charged our devices and had a great burger and coffee. Huge descents have equally opposite huge ascents and that was our afternoon mission. 1,500m straight up back into the high country. Beautiful as always and the weather mostly played nice despite threatening rain. We set up camp in a fairly protected little saddle after another challenging and epic day on the TMB. Loving living. Distance: 27.1km Total distance: 91km Elevation gain: 2,055m Total elevation gain: 6,527m

A marathon on the TMB! We rose early this morning with a long day planned. A crust first 5km or so led us to a lovely little refugio with the most internet view. We stopped to make a coffee and breakfast before tackling a descent into the valley below and a monstrous 1,000m ascent back out. I actually felt pretty weak on this climb, the legs are starting to fatigue! I took it slow though and made it up with no issues. Most of the rest of the day would be a looong descent. 20km or so and almost 2,000m down. We crossed into Switzerland around mid day and made steady progress through the spectacular landscapes. We considered stopping early in the town of La Fouly but had so much light left in the day and a little more energy to use up. After reaching the bottom of the descent, we had a final 500m climb up to Champex which is the town we would end up camping in. There isn’t any wild camping allowed in Switzerland so an extremely overpriced campsite it had to be! It rained lightly for the last couple hours which was quite nice actually and we setup camp amongst about 100 other tents. Distance: 43.3km Total distance: 134.3km Elevation gain: 1,726m Total elevation gain: 8,253m