The Wall

Today was a beautiful day for a walk.  Our morning started early with breakfast at 6:00am.  Then all of us pilgrims hurried to the local bus stop.  It was time for a life choice.  Which stop would you pay for and how long did you want to walk today?  Time to choose and then live with your decision.  I chose the 8-hour version and soon would come to question my sanity. 



Will Smith tells the story of his dad’s wall and how he and his brother were forced to rebuild it.  It was a huge wall that took over a year to build and they worked on it every single day.  One day they were grumbling about how much work it was and that they would never finish it.  Their dad overheard their discussion.  “Don’t focus on the wall!  Just focus on a single brick”, yelled their dad.




Today’s hike was a wall for me!  So many steps up the mountain and I knew that meant an equal amount coming back down.  Remembering Will’s story, I just focused on one brick/step at a time and slowly I conquered my wall.  



Around 3:30 I dragged myself into the temple and laid my final brick.  I now have my Dual Pilgrim certificate, a gold shell and lots of pilgrimage merchandise.  The best part was celebrating with my fellow pilgrims.  My first two pilgrims that I met were there to congratulate me.  An Australian woman that I walked with today was also earning her dual pilgrimage certificate.  Like the Camino, achieving a goal with a group is a special experience.  The staff was so supportive and encouraging.  




Another bus came and took a load of us pilgrims to a beautiful hotel where I celebrated with a Japanese bath.  I enjoyed another fabulous dinner and now it's time to crash.  I have 2 more days to master the segment of Kumano Kodo that I signed up for, so tomorrow morning I am back to my wall…




Location - Yunomine @ 33.824344, 135.754096

Distance - 15km / 9 mi

Elevation Gain - 770 m

Elevation Loss - 1,190 m

Steps - 27,508 steps

Total Distance - 13.41 miles




Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 8, 2025 at 1:21 PM

    Congratulations, my love, on becoming a Dual Pilgrim! You are doing great and I’m so proud of you. -Cindy

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMay 8, 2025 at 3:06 PM

    I won’t say, I should have gone. Let’s just say, I’m inspired by you 🥰

    ReplyDelete

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