What is the Camino Madrid?

Description

The Camino Madrid starts in Madrid, Spain and goes north to Sahagun, Spain where it meets up with the well-known (and most popular of the Spanish pilgrimage routes) Camino Frances, popularized in the Emilio Estevez & Martin Sheen movie, "The Way".

The Camino Madrid is 320 km long (approx 200 mi). Most pilgrims take between 13 to 16 days to walk it, depending on how far one walks each day.

Although the Camino de Madrid starts in Madrid and passes thru Segovia on the way to Sahagun, only days from León, much of this route is filled with solitary days where the pilgrim has only their own thoughts to keep them company.

The Camino Madrid is almost exclusively flat and easy walking with few hills. The pilgrim has only one day with the climb over the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range. Along this route, the hiker will come across delightful market towns and picturesque villages all the way – even Segovia is a collection of small village centers. 

The Origin

Like many of the Camino routes, this path started as a way for shepherds to move their livestock, based on the season, from one grazing ground to another, typically winter lowlands and summer highlands. Additionally crop harvesters from Galicia came down from the north of Spain to the Castilian lands during harvest time. 

Why the Camino Madrid

Unlike the very popular, busy and crowded Camino Frances, the pilgrim's route from Madrid to Sahagun is very quiet and peaceful. The hiker doing this camino will meet very few other pilgrims. Therefore this path appeals to those looking for solitude amidst open spaces and under the wide horizons of the meseta (Spain's large flat plains). Unlike other caminos, this one offers more path and less road to the wanderer. 

Random Thought of the Day

Been having bad dreams lately. Don't think it is stress or anxiety related to the upcoming Camino trip. Although I certainly do wonder how Covid could affect the trip. I guess my big concern is running into some kind of lockdown, but most governments have by now gone to the "Open for business" model, and are encouraging people to get out and about. 

Sometimes monsters are not big, scary, frightening creatures of horror. Sometimes they are insidious, tiny creatures ... so tiny that you don't even know that the monster is chasing you or right on your tail ... or lying in your path, behind a tree or bush, waiting to pounce.

Covid has been the monster that has haunted my Camino plans for three years now. 

When I finished crossing the Swiss Alps in 2019, and stood on the Italian border, I imagined myself back soon to tackle the Alps again. 

When I left Santiago de Campostela to fly to Geneva, Switzerland, I imagined myself back in 2020 - 2020, to explore more and experience more.

But the monster was right around the corner. By March of 2020, New York had locked down. Every month felt like we should be getting back to normal, but month after month, and then for three more years, the monster kept popping its little head up to make me turn back and dodge and duck. 

Three entire years without a pilgrimage. What a monster!