March 30–April 5, 2025

Route: Hornillos del Camino to León

Total Distance Walked: Approximately 97 miles (157 km)

Notable Stop: Historic Midpoint near Sahagún

This week, I crossed into what many consider the heart of the Camino, the Meseta. It’s a vast, open stretch known for its wide skies, flat plains, and the deep thoughts it often stirs in pilgrims. I also passed the historic midpoint of the Camino Frances, just outside Sahagún. There’s a monument and a pair of statues marking the occasion, one figure is resting, the other walking forward.

The Three Phases of the Camino: Body, Mind, and Soul

The Camino is often described as unfolding in three transformative stages:

• Body: The beginning, where you wrestle with the physical demands of the walk through the Pyrenees mountains.
• Mind: The middle stretch, through the Meseta, where your thoughts become louder in the quiet expanses of the open land & trail.
• Soul: The final days, when they say something deeper begins to shift as you approach Santiago and the end of your journey.

I’m fully in the Mind phase now. The Meseta’s long, empty stretches and wide horizons don’t offer the same visual stimulation as earlier parts of the trail. Instead, they challenge you to sit with your thoughts, your exhaustion, and your own mental chatter. Some days it feels peaceful and meditative, others it feels like I’m pacing through the inside of my own head. I’ve tried to be aware of talking my two walking partner’s ears off. I’m pretty sure one of them wanted to yell at me and tell me to be quiet a couple days ago…

This Week’s Route & Stops

From Hornillos del Camino, I continued west through:

• Castrojeriz
• Frómista
• Carrión de los Condes
• Terradillos de los Templarios
• El Burgo Ranero
• Mansilla de las Mulas
  …ending the week in León.

Connections, Challenges & Gratitude

This was the week I got my first (and so far, only) blister. Considering what some of my friends have endured, I feel incredibly lucky.

At dinner in León, a bunch of us were able to reunite and share stories from the week. One friend had to take multiple days off due to infected blisters that developed into a skin ulcer after doing back-to-back 30km (18 mile) days. Another had been walking with his brother, but the brother aggravated an old injury and had to fly home early. We met back up with him, now walking solo again. Someone else was finally back on the trail after being held up in Logroño with a stomach bug.

The Camino is full of unexpected turns. You never know what it will give you, or take from you, on any given day. That unpredictability is part of what makes each moment feel so precious: every meal, every laugh, every shared bottle of wine.

Lately, I’ve been grappling with the reality that this journey will come to an end in about two weeks. Yesterday, I was talking with a friend about the connections we’ve made out here, and something clicked. The only other experience I’ve had that comes close to this kind of bonding was boot camp. The goal there is to break you down physically and mentally, then rebuild you as part of a unit with shared purpose.

In its own way, the Camino does something similar, but with more wine, fewer push-ups, and a deeper sense of choice.

This week has challenged me in quiet ways. The land is flat, the towns are sparse, and the internal voice gets louder when there’s less around to distract it. But walking past that midpoint marker outside of Sahagún, I realized how far I’ve come both figuratively and literally.

Still walking. Still grateful. Still blistered (but only slightly).

oh, and bells… bells, bells, bells, there are bells everywhere! I’m thinking of making a post with nothing but videos of bells clanging.