Author: bethstapleton0201@gmail.com

A few people have asked about our gear and what we’re bringing on our Camino.  Before we get into specifics we would like to thank Rob and Amy as well as my coworkers at Macy’s Backstage for their generous and thoughtful gifts which included REI gift cards as well as other practical items. It was great fun to shop for exactly what we need and REI is the perfect store for trekking gear!  Thank you!!

According to those who have completed treks like the Camino, we should limit what we’re carrying to about 10% of our weight.  All in, including full water bottles we are way over.  My backpack, with water, will be about 18.0 pounds and Tom’s is over 21.5 pounds so we’re still reviewing it to see what, if anything, we can reduce.

Here’s a general list of what we’re each taking with us:

Backpacks
Hiking boots
Trek poles
Sleeping bags
Ponchos
Fleece (double as a pillow)
Rain jackets
2 pair of convertible pants
3 lightweight shirts
3 pairs inner and outer socks
3 underwear
Flip flops
Sun hats
Buffs
sporks
Micro towels
Head lamps
Toiletries – soap, shampoo, toilet paper, tooth brushes & paste, deodorant, shavers, etc.
Medical kit – medical tape, Aquaphor, anti-itch and antibiotic creams, prescriptions, sunscreen, bug spray, band aids, etc.
Electronics – 1 shared phone, 1 shared tablet, chargers, GoPro and selfie stick
Misc. plastic bags to protect the electronics
Guide book
2 water bottles each
Passports, cash, credit cards.

We know that it’s the electronics that are pushing us over our weight limit but this is a once in a lifetime trip for us and we want to be able to share the experience with family and friends.

13 days and counting.  Today we met another training goal – hike Mount Tamany at the Delaware Water Gap.  We know the elevations in the Pyrenees will be very steep so we wanted to test out legs.  Mount Tamany was really part hike, part mountain climb but we made it.  The walk was only just over 3 miles but took almost 3 hours because of the very steep climb.  We were relieved not see any bear as we’ve read that there’s a large black bear population in this area.  The views were absolutely worth the sweat and there was A LOT of sweat.

 

 

Thanks to Brian who told us about this trail, it was challenge and felt good to make it.

 

We are just 24 days away from our Camino departure date and we’ve been training for 12 weeks.  We began walking 3 to 4 days each week without our backpacks and have been tracking our progress on  Strava.  Strava is an app that’s designed for runners or bikers but it’s worked really well for us.  It tracks distance, pace and elevation which is great as there are a few steep climbs at the beginning of our Camino in the Pyrenees.

In the middle of June we added our backpacks.  We’ve walked over 300 miles since we began and our longest walk was 15.6 miles.  That was cause for celebration!

We’ve very fortunate to have several beautiful parks and state reservations to hike in New Jersey including Nomehegan Park, Echo Lake Park, Watchung Reservation and the South Mountain Reservation.  We also have been training on the roads around our house in the Poconos.  While not as picturesque it does have the advantage of better bathroom breaks and not having to carry food.

More on our training and gear in future updates.