MARFA — “You leave everything behind,” said Marfa resident Virginia Platt of her recent adventure hiking the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage through Northern Spain. “There’s no calls, no grocery store, the day-to-day things you do everyday are not there. Your focus is: get up, walk, sleep, and do it again.”
Platt was joined by Marfa resident Virgie Pallarez on a 41-day, over 500-mile trek this summer through the Camino de Santiago, or Way of Saint James, a web of historic routes throughout Europe that end in Northwest Spain at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, where the body of the apostle Saint James is reputedly buried. The two women started their pilgrimage on May 11 in St. Jean-Pied-de-Port, France, and completed the route on June 20 before flying back to the states, where their first stop was for a Whataburger in El Paso.
“We definitely wore out our shoes,” Pallarez said of the journey. “They were worn out. There was no giving them to anybody for whatever reason. Throw those suckers away.”
Platt and Pallarez started training for the Camino in August, lifting weights at the gym and going on five-hour, nine-mile walks daily towards Alpine and Valentine. They were inspired by Platt’s sister, who also joined them on the Camino, and the movie “The Way” with Martin Sheen. They viewed YouTube videos about the excursion, learning to limit their backpacks to no more than 10% of their body weight. Convertible pants, wool socks, Vaseline and trekking poles were among their essential gear.
Following the trail’s symbol of a bright yellow arrow, the hikers steadily wound their way through the agricultural lands of Northern Spain — where they encountered farm animals like cows and chickens — and the Pyrenees Mountains, scenic rivers, national parks, quaint villages, monasteries, and more.
“It’s beautiful throughout. It’s just unbelievable,” Platt said. “Sometimes you’re so exhausted, so tired and then you see the views, and you go, wow, this was worth every pain and ache that you had that day.”
Despite their training regime, the elevation gain on the Camino proved to be challenging, and their bodies protested the constant walking, leaving them to continuously nurse various ailments. “I didn’t get any blisters at all the entire time, but I did sprain my ankle, pull my hip,” Platt said.
“It’s a physical and mental challenge,” Pallarez said.
But the small group stuck to a rigid schedule, with no rest days, and became accustomed to wrapping their feet as needed when they started their day at 9 a.m. and finally shucking off their hiking shoes — and indulging in a well-earned beer — when they reached their destination.
“You do see a lot of people limping but I think once you commit to it, it’s really difficult to stop,” Platt said.
“I think the first few days you’re excited about it, and then after that it’s like anything else, it’s a discipline,” she added. “Just get up and go. You gotta go. There’s no other decision to make other than you’ve gotta walk.”
But they found fellow hikers — who greeted each other with the sentiment “Buen Camino” — and townsfolk were eager to lend a hand when possible, and they met a lot of interesting people along the route, they said.
“Virgie was a pharmacy, a go to place,” Platt laughed. “I think that in and of itself creates a community of friends, even though sometimes you don’t even know their name, you keep seeing them.”
Platt said she spent the first half of the journey focusing on the religious aspect, praying for souls and those who are sick, and the second half listening to music to stay motivated. Pallarez said she also found the time on foot spiritually enriching.
“I prayed a lot throughout the whole thing… things that I’ve gone through, people who are sick,” Pallarez said. “It’s everybody’s Camino. I felt I had to let go of certain things that I had been through. And I did, I came back at peace.”
In addition to being accompanied by Platt’s sister Alpha Silva — who turned 69 during the trip — and her husband Abel, the two were kept company part of the time by husbands Dan Platt and Eddie Pallarez, and by the Pallarez’s granddaughter. At the end of the Camino, Platt and Pallarez left their worn trekking poles in boxes with other hikers’ discarded gear and went to Valencia to rest up for four days. They said they intend to keep walking now that they are back home in Marfa, but it is perhaps too soon to tell if they’ll take on another Camino de Santiago pilgrimage.
“Hey, we finished,” Pallarez said. “That’s all that matters. We finished.”