Camino del Norte to Chimayó

An effort was made in the summer of 2012 to create a pilgrim route to the Santuario de Chimayó in northern New Mexico beginning in Denver, Colorado. Chimayó is a popular pilgrim destination in the US with tens of thousands of pilgrims making the pilgrimage by foot every year, particularly during Holy Week. For information about this destination, follow the links in the side panel.

A series of three existing routes were used to lead pilgrims between Denver and Chimayó: first, a miner’s route connecting Denver with the silver mining area of Cripple Creek; second, the Ute Indian migration path between the Front Range and the San Luis Valley that was also used by Zebulon Pike during his early exploration of the region following the Louisiana Purchase; finally, the upper reaches of the Rio Grande river used by the Franciscan Missionaries during the time of the Spanish Colonials. Most of the route is made up of graded forest roads, with the remainder on paved country roads. The route would be suitable for foot, off-road wheelchair and mountain bike.

Unlike the caminos in Spain, no network of pilgrim houses exists appropriately spaced to facilitate the pilgrimage. The feasibility of a pilgrim house system in Colorado and northern New Mexico was tested in the pioneer effort. The route originates in Denver, crosses the mountains between Monument and Woodland Park, again at Cripple Creek to Canon City, and into the San Luis Valley at Pass Creek Pass. Although the route passes through some villages and towns, shade and water stations were set up to support pilgrims with refreshments.

The pioneer pilgrims who made the pilgrimage along this Camino del Norte a Chimayo varied widely in background and level of experience. The success of the journey was overwhelming. It was a challenge for most, far beyond any effort they had previously attempted. There was general consensus that the most difficult part was that the distances were beyond the comfort level of most. The spacing of towns cannot be changed, so it is what it is. Perhaps in the future, interim stations would be established to make the stages a bit shorter though it would extend the number of days of the pilgrimage.

Advice to others interested in making the pilgrimage reasonably includes being well prepared both physically - to be able to walk 20 miles without getting blisters - and mentally - to be able to spend hours on end alone and unattached to electronic devices. The scenery, history and culture that the camino passes through is remarkable. The camino is real.

Anyone interested in making this pilgrimage is encouraged to contact the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish at 303 477 1402 or the Santuario de Chimayo at 505 351 9961. Alternatively, an email inquiry can be sent through the link above.

Pilgrim-in-Training Program

While walking is an athletic activity, most pilgrims wouldn't think of themselves as athletes.  Many pilgrims are happy to gain the fitness benefit that is an unavoidable side effect of the pilgrimage.  Weight loss, muscle gain, a boost to the metabolism... these words fall easily onto the ears of prospective pilgrims.  It's not possible to walk 20 miles every day for 18 consecutive days and not come back with stronger legs, abs and back, and - bonus - arms if hiking poles are used.

We're all aware of the guidance about staying fit - proper nutrition and routine aerobic (cardiovascular) exercise, strength training, and stretching.  We've also heard the tip that for a new routine to take hold it's good to make a drastic change in lifestyle.  A pilgrimage could initiate a drastic change.

A pilgrim doesn't have to be a top athlete to begin a pilgrimage.  It's only walking - a lot of walking, true - and most of us have been doing it since we were a year old, but it's walking all day long day in and day out and with a light backpack that turns it into an athletic event.

How should a pilgrim who's never walked more than a 5k fundraiser or a few laps around the soccer field prepare for the pilgrimage?  The short answer: Walk.

For prospective pilgrims who are very out of shape, have old injuries or other physical conditions that might limit their opportunity to walk all day every day, specific consultation with a doctor beforehand is strongly advisable, a no-brainer, really.  Dead pilgrims won't make for happy pilgrims.  No one should make a foot pilgrimage against doctor's orders.

Once past that hurdle, pilgrims-in-training should focus on footwear.  Buy early and practice walking in the actual shoes and actual socks that will be worn for the pilgrimage.  Breaking the shoes slowly will reduce the possibility of blisters - the most dreaded of all pilgrim afflictions.  Friction, heat and sweat are the root causes of blisters.  Friction is controllable; heat and sweat unavoidable.  Friction is produced in the rubbing of skin against sock, sock against shoe, and skin against skin.  (More on this subject will be posted in another page soon.)  By breaking shoes in, friction points on both the foot and the shoe will soften gently.  Avoid cotton socks!  They absorb sweat and the friction increases with the sogginess.

With the actual shoes and actual socks, walk.  Walking 20 miles a day is too big of a time commitment for training - it's the pilgrimage itself.  Training little by little in the weeks and months before the pilgrimage is good, but mostly for getting the feet accustomed to the expectation to come.  Build up the distance.  Walk one mile a day, for example, every day for a week.

The standard city grid in Denver consists of 10 blocks per mile north/south and 16 blocks per mile east/west.
Build up to 6 or 7 miles on an outing and then do it two days in a row.  The plan is to establish shade stations every 6 to 7 miles on the route to Chimayó.  Time yourself to get a sense of your personal pace in order to estimate how much walking time you'll need to walk between sit-down, shoes-off rests.  It's not a race!  No pilgrim should try to walk at an artificial pace to keep up with a spouse or to slow down for one.  Bodies perform best at a natural pace - set by personal gait, leg length, and stride length among other variables.  It's better for the body to walk at a natural speed and then to meet up at the rest stations for the social interaction rather than to spend the day with a companion at a unnatural pace.  During the training program, get a sense of the amount of time it will take to go 6 or 7 miles comfortably.  Nothing needs to be exact - during the pilgrimage, every day's path will be a little different, some days steeper, some shadier, some more beautiful - training is about conditioning the body not about simulating the pilgrimage.

In addition to breaking in the shoes and preparing the body, the training will define reasonable expectations.  Is it comfortable to walk 6 or 7 miles in 2 hours or will it require something closer to 3? or 4?  Keeping in mind that at the beginning of August in Colorado, there's over 14 hours of daylight.  it's light before 6 am and dark after 8:30 pm, imagine leaving the pilgrim house at 8, walking 2 to 4 hours, resting for a half hour or so, walking for 2 to 4 more hours, resting for another half hour or so, walking the final 2 to 4 hours.  Pilgrims who measured their pace beforehand and fall into the 2-hours-for-6-miles category can have the expectation that they might arrive at the next pilgrim house around 3 in the afternoon.  Pilgrims falling into the 4-hours-for-6-miles end of the spectrum will have the expectation that they'll arrive at dusk.  It's a fair statement that all pilgrims will arrive sometime between mid afternoon and dark.
Slower pilgrims don't despair! The plan is that the shade stations will offer the option of driving pilgrims by car to the next pilgrim house.  No pilgrim will be left behind.  If you can walk part of the distance to Chimayó it's still a pilgrimage.  It's neither a race nor a performance test.
For the fun of it if time allows and after the progressive breaking-in of the shoes and feet, sometime during the training time walk 20 miles in a single day to see how it goes.  Stay hydrated but not overly saturated.  Wear a small (18 to 24 liters) backpack with 8 to 10 pounds in it.  Wear candidate pilgrim clothes.  The day-long training walk won't be to simulate the pilgrimage but it will allow a try-out for the gear and the muscles.

Have fun, pilgrim-athlete!  Don't over think.  Don't over train.  Don't over stress.

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