SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The biggest lessons in life and about human needs can come from simply taking a walk.

Denise Pyke shows off a certificate which acknowledges her completion of part of the El Camino de Compostela trail in Spain. Pyke walked for 15 days in September with two relatives between Leon, Spain and Santiago de Compostela as part of the popular pilgrimage. The trek is 306 kilometres, comparable to the distance between Yellowknife and Fort Providence. - Simon Whitehouse/NNSL photo

Well, maybe not simple, but Denise Pyke has returned with a "sense of accomplishment," both physically and spiritually after finishing a major leg of the El Camino de Santiago trail in September.

Also called the Way of Saint James, the trail is a popular Christian religious pilgrimage which spreads throughout Spain and bordering countries with different routes.

Pyke, 51, a business programs officer with the GNWT, walked between the cities of Leon and Santiago de Compostela, Spain - a portion of the route known popularly as Camino Frances. From Sept. 10 and Sept. 25, Pyke was accompanied by her sister, Marylou Bothwell, 65, and brother-in-law Dexter Bothwell, 70, both from Ottawa. Dexter had attempted the full Camino Frances from St Jean Pied du Port, France, in 2013 but hurt himself on the final stretch. At that time, Pyke said she promised to help him complete the final 306 kilometres when he wanted to return.

"We walked about 25 kilometres a day and were on our way by 7 a.m.," she said. "Depending on the day we would take six to eight hours a day. It is not an easy trail and chose to carry our packs with our belongings."

Pyke said the stretch is roughly equivalent to the distance between Yellowknife and Fort Providence but the terrain and geography are much different. She walked through various landscapes which included the high altitudes of the Pyrenees Mountains, several small towns and villages in northern Spain and through many open fields and cobblestone routes.

Although there is an obvious physical and recreational element to the walk, the focus to complete the walk is supposed to be spiritual or religious, according to Renee Dupuis-Leon, secretary with the Canadian Company of Pilgrims based in Ottawa. Her organization is a registered non-profit group which promotes the Camino in Canada and distributes the required, accredited guidebook that must be stamped everyday of a walk to show that one has completed the pilgrimage. Typically, stamps are applied to the guidebook in churches, bars and hostels - called albergues - along the way before a certificate is handed out by the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela at the end.

"Each pilgrimage is personal and individual but usually it is for spiritual or religious reasons," Dupuis-Leon said, adding that it is different from recreational hiking on the Appalachian Trail or on the Pacific coast.

"Walking so many kilometres puts a person in a meditative state that they wouldn't be able to do on a hike. When walking everyday for 20 or 30 kilometres, your mind relaxes in a way that it doesn't get to on other occasions. Often people are dealing with death or hardships or getting over something or are at a crossroads in their lives."

Pyke said as a Roman Catholic, she wanted to "reconnect with her spiritual beliefs" and said there were portions in the trail which were moving, especially when coming through the Cruz de Ferro where there is a cross where people can leave rocks to symbolize leaving burdens behind.

"When you are doing the walk, what you need to practice (in life) comes to you," she said. "When you walk in a larger group you tend to learn patience, communication and how to get along with people because you are with these people day and night for three weeks. So on one day you might have to learn patience to accept everyone for what they are and everybody's different ways."

Pyke said she intends to return to complete a bigger portion of the trail and next time she will be more prepared by packing lighter and keeping her feet "happy."

"This was my first 306 kilometres but I am definitely going back," Pyke said. "I felt like I cheated because I didn't do the whole thing."

"When you get on the Camino, the first couple of days are hard but once you break into a rhythm and your feet are happy and your shoes are happy and your socks are happy. Then it works and you are used to it."

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