Pilgrim found walking in wrong direction on AP-1 highway

[Bradypus]

Several local news websites are reporting that in very bad weather a few days ago a pilgrim was found lost and confused walking the shoulder of the AP-1 highway near Burgos. Aiming for Burgos but actually heading in the wrong direction. The Guardia Civil responded to reports of a pilgrim clearly disorientated and in some difficulty. Seeing the man showed symptoms of hypothermia and fatigue the officers transported the man to Burgos.

La Guardia Civil auxilia en plena tormenta a un peregrino estadounidense desorientado en Burgos

Transitaba por el arcén de la AP-1 en sentido contrario a la Ruta Jacobea. Las adversas condiciones meteorológicas, que reducían notablemente la visibilidad, aconsejaron su traslado hasta Burgos capital, donde tenía reservado alojamiento

www.diariodeburgos.es

 

[lovingkindness]

Hi @Bradypus, that reminds me of a curious story I heard one day in Italy...

At about 3 AM one morning I was awoken by 'fireworks' exploding in my left eye. Frantic, I set off in the dark following steamy mosquito infested paths through the rice paddies of the Po valley. Late morning I arrived at a small township where there just happened to be an optometrist. He promptly telephoned an eye specialist who, although she was on vacation dropped what she was doing, drove to the clinic and spent a couple of hours examining my sight, refusing payment.

When all was done she said, "I wouldn't normally interrupt my vacation like this and I'm not usually interested in pilgrims but when I heard that one was in need, I became curious. I really want to hear your story". So I told her bits of this and that.

Then she said the real reason she'd come was because a couple of weeks earlier she'd been driving in an out of the way place when she noticed a man with back pack behaving strangely. She thought, Pilgrims don't walk here, perhaps he's lost. So she pulled up and asked him if he needed a ride back to the Via Francigena. He said, No, he wasn't lost. He was meditating and trying to discover how to levitate. He had set off months before from somewhere in Russia. He was drifting here and there, wherever the wind of the Spirit lead him, and as the Spirit was his guide how could he possibly be lost?

 

[Bradypus]

she noticed a man with back pack behaving strangely.

Doesn't narrow the field much on the Camino Francés...

as the Spirit was his guide how could he possibly be lost?

In the case of the man in the article he seems to have been led by something off the Camino and on to the autopista. Not sure how open the Guardia Civil would be to theological debate on the matter! Just relieved to read that the incident passed off without serious harm done.

 

[henrythedog]

On the basis of one unfortunate experience in fog on the summit of a munro in the 80’s, whenever I stop for a break I try to leave my walking poles pointing in the direction I’m intending to continue. The easiest wrong direction to head is 180 degrees off-course.

 

[Bradypus]

The easiest wrong direction to head is 180 degrees off-course.

The allegedly smart phone I carried on the Via Francigena developed a glitch which only came to light on a wet and completely overcast day in the rice swamps that @lovingkindness mentions above. The inbuilt compass was reading 180 degrees out - "North" was actually "South". You can imagine how disgruntled I was after losing the path and following my phone compass for an hour or so in search of a village where I should have been able to rejoin the marked route.

 

[chinacat]

On the basis of one unfortunate experience in fog on the summit of a munro in the 80’s, whenever I stop for a break I try to leave my walking poles pointing in the direction I’m intending to continue. The easiest wrong direction to head is 180 degrees off-course.

Excellent idea!!