Hiking El Camino Trail: Islander writes new guidebook

Avid hikerBrysonGuptillembarked on his 34-day hike of ElCaminotrail with a guidebook in hand, but quickly found himself in need of a better one so he wrote it himself.

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The retired civil servant, 66, and his partner Sue Norton embarked on a 800-kilometre pilgrimage from France to Spain in September 2016 a journey popular since the 1100s, and last yearundertaken by nearly 300,000 people.

"The existing guidebooks, and especially the most popular one, are quite bulky," Guptill explained from the couple's Charlottetown home. "And also didn't have particularly good maps. I'm a bit of a map fanatic, and I found myself mapping what we were doing anyway with the GPS on my phone."

Guptill's guide, Camino Francs A Practical Guide to Walking the Pilgrim's Path from St. Jean Pied de Port, France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, is different than existing books, he said, in that it's more of a daily guide to walking the trail details on which routes you can take, where to stay and where to eat.

It's also peppered with some of Guptill's beautiful scenic photos.

Which way?

As the couple hiked, Guptill paused to take lots of photos with his phone and write notes, "especially noting places where we were having trouble figuring out which way to go," he said. At the end of the day he recorded where they went and interesting things they saw. He uses screen shots of the maps he used to navigate.

There's a series of hostels along the way used by pilgrims, called albergues, in which Guptill and Norton stayed and review in the guide.

They carried everything they needed in their backpacks extra layers of clothing, toiletries and a sleeping bag which each weighed just over five kilograms or 12 pounds.

Guidebook and souvenir

It was the couple's first international hike, but that didn't deter Guptill from assuming the role of guide he saw a void, and wanted to fill it.

"It's not as illogical as it sounds," Guptill joked. "I had done a poetry book about two years ago, so I had a bit of an idea what was involved in self-publishing," he explained. He also published a small book this summer about hiking P.E.I.'s portion of the International Appalachian Trail.

His market is people who are thinking about walking the trail he's just filled orders from Germany and Halifax for prospective hikers, he said, while others buying it have already done the Camino, and want it as a souvenir.

5 Camino tips

Here are Guptill's top tips for hiking the Camino:

• Pack light. A heavy pack will be hard on your feet.
• Prepare by walking at least 10 kilometres a day the few weeks before you go.
• Go with the flow. Don't worry about where to stay or where your next meal is coming from there are so many places along the trail, neither is ever far away.
• Be prepared to be moved spiritually. Although Guptill did not undertake the hike for religious reasons, "the whole experience is very moving," he shared. Escaping your daily routine and focusing on your next physical steps can clear your mind.
• Stay open to making friends along the way. You will meet many others making the hike from all walks of life, who can become good friends. "We've staying in touch with a lot of those people afterwards, and it's fun," he said.

The book, which retails from $19.95, is available now in some P.E.I. bookstores and on aFacebookpageGuptillhas created to promote it,CaminoFrancs- New Guidebook. He's holding an official launch at the Confederation Centre library on February 9.

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