For centuries pilgrims have been making the sacred weeks long journey along the northern part of Spain. During the summer of 2021 the Jirak men will attempt to make their journey.
OG 2021 Jirak Blog
June 09, 2021
For the past 4 years I have been making a plan for this trip. A trip for renewal a trip for uniting a trip of discovery. Ever since 2016 (fact check) I have planned to go this summer to walk the 500...
June 15, 2021
Spain… oh Spain…. they seemed to change up their regulations on 12-17 year olds. The rule before was that parents needed to be “fully vaccinated” and they could bring their unvaccinated children as...
June 16, 2021
This is it. We are waiting for our ride to pick us up in 30 minutes. We have check double checked all of our essentials. Papa’s Pack - 18lbs Blaise’s Pack - 19lbs Gabe’s Pack - 20lbs Gus’s Pack -...
June 17, 2021
They say you start your Camino at the moment you leave your front door. So according to that logic I am several hours in and have already made it thousands of miles. However the miles to come will...
June 18, 2021
We are making a little swap in our route to accommodate the COVID madness that is Europe right now. Normally we would start in St. Jean in France but I am worried about a border crossing. Instead we...
June 18, 2021
We started our day in Pamplona and headed out after we had to return to our AirBnB to retrieve my hiking pole. Let me tell you that doesn’t make you popular with the group. The highlight of our day...
June 19, 2021
I know what you are thinking isn’t Europe a wasteland for Catholicism? I imagine they are still struggling with younger folks but here is our circumstantial evidence that it might not be as bad as...
June 20, 2021
Spain is opening up quickly but remember that it was super locked down just a few days ago. Our pilgrimage was planned over 4 years ago and it all happened just in time. Folks from the States were...
June 21, 2021
Today’s journey took us from Los Arcos to the much larger town of Logroño. However it is what happened last night that was the most important. Food here has been I’ll just say it freaking...
June 23, 2021
Woah this needs explaining. So last night we decided to go to Mass. I love going to Mass and it is extra special attending in these ancient medieval churches with my boys. When we arrived in Logroño...
June 24, 2021
The crazy journey through Spain is an amazing thing. People from all different places cultures and ways of life unite for this long arduous pilgrimage. We share all the same storms mud puddles and...
June 26, 2021
It is hard to believe we have been on the path for 8 days now. Once neophytes we now have a regular rhythm to our day. It usually goes like this: 6:30am: Wake up and get packed. Gus is the master...
June 27, 2021
Today we marched into a jewel on the Camino the city of Burgos. We decided to take Sunday off and settle in a little deeper for this stage of the trip. We walked through several amazing miles of...
June 28, 2021
This morning was our most relaxing of the trip. I let the boys sleep in way in. Even though we collapsed at about 9:30pm I had to call off this sleep fest by about 8:15am the next morning. These...
June 29, 2021
Leaving beautiful Burgos was sad this morning. The journey out of town was easy and beautiful. We were ushered through our 5 hours of walking with golden wheat on both sides of the path. When...
June 30, 2021
I think with confidence I can say the first part done. Blisters have made way to calluses our pale skin has tanned and pains in my legs have engorged my already big calves to comic proportions. For...
July 01, 2021
Spanish work to live while the rest of the world lives to work. Spanish Ron (Tony) I have been wrestling with this phrase for the past day since the Spanish equivalent of my Uncle Ron proclaimed it...
July 02, 2021
I think in the U.S. we have a crazy obsession with who and how someone is going to murder us. They don’t seem to be so worried about that here. I remember Mr. Wingard in 4th grade social studies...
July 04, 2021
We are gone for quite the long time. Connecting with my wife and family are important. Thankfully it hasn’t really been a problem at all. Before I left for Spain I knew I was asking my wife to make...
July 05, 2021
A switch just got turned on. Blaise has went from amture to ninja overnight. Today started just like any other day. We woke up packed and headed on our way. Around the corner we stopped for a...
July 06, 2021
Weeeeeeeeeeee UPDATE 8:48pm July 7 2021 ======================= 55.73K or 34.00 miles. I’m never walking again. 14 hours of walking minus an hour for comida. I hate my kids UPDATE 7:18pm July 7 2021...
July 09, 2021
Ok here’s the deal. I have been encouraging the boys to embrace the culture and certainly their foods. Up to this point we have done that pretty well. Today we went to another level. After our 50K...
July 11, 2021
**WARNING — These comments the opinions of the author. If you don’t like it too bad. Let’s dive right in I loathe the bikers on the camino. They pass you going 40 miles and hour shouting “Buen...
July 10, 2021
When we left for Spain the boys and I had a couple of days to ourselves before taking off. We spent some time training and some time repacking. My dear wife really tried to make sure the boys had...
July 13, 2021
When we started I made the executive decision to start our Camino in Pamplona instead of 3 days down the trail from the normal starting place at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port France. I didn’t want to deal...
July 14, 2021
When we started this journey I wanted to be ready for anything. One unpleasant reality was the fact that we might be caught mid-walk when at least one of us would find ourselves in need of the...
July 15, 2021
It’s Blaise today. I’m stepping in for today’s entry. I speak a good amount of Spanish and I have taken the role of translator on this trip. If you where wondering where I learned Spanish our story...
July 17, 2021
Today was a longer day and it was in the heat. I knew this before the day started. As we left this morning I hurried the boys out of town so we could get moving. No time for a full sit down...
July 18, 2021
The Camino is an ancient route and millions have traveled it before us. What you might not know is that there are many ways to Santiago. Other popular routes include El Norte (North Route) Primitivo...
July 19, 2021
This morning was met with a complex feeling. Our goal lay ahead only a few short miles away. Less than 2% of the journey left. We took our time getting up knowing that we were not in a rush of any...
July 20, 2021
This journey of a lifetime is over. The sadness that poured over me was unexpected. As our miles to Santiago dwindled I realized that this epic pilgrimage has come to an end. I had been planning...
December 03, 2021
Over our 500 mile journey, we had many conversations and made some dear friends along the way. During the Camino, you go through stages of friendship and these can be measured at the following...