UPDATE!

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UPDATE:
I have been looking at the map of the route. There is a section from Cripple Creek to Westcliffe that is approx. 60 miles. 2 overnight stops will be needed.
Another big leg is the section from Westcliffe to Fort Garland, that is approx. 63 miles. 2 overnight stops will be needed there also if I plan approx. 20 miles per day.

I have read from the guide book that I believe there was a support group that brought out supplies and tents for those nights. That would be excellent!
Unfortunately, I don't have that support yet, being that I am planning this walk by myself.

I am not comfortable overnighting 4 nights in the mountains, with the wildlife, no SAT phone and needing to carry several days of food and water on me in the first part of November. 

I do not believe I am prepared for that yet.

I will keep you posted.

I might just plan to do the Camino Portugues or the Camino del Norte in Spain.

If you are interested in walking, I would love to get a handful of people together to do this. We could set up the support needed.

Please email me at : kwt600@gmail.com
Thanks, Rick...
 

Getting ready...Gathering stuff.

This post will be a list of what I am taking and what I am doing in preparation for this walk.

Obtaining an “Indulgence”.

Get a Plenary Indulgence for Making a Pilgrimage During the Year of Faith

There has never been a better time to make a pilgrimage!  During the Year of Faith, October 11, 2012 to November 24, 2013, a plenary indulgence is available to the faithful for making a pilgrimage.  According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website a plenary indulgence will be granted under the normal circumstances when:

“Each time they visit, in the course of a pilgrimage, a papal basilica, a Christian catacomb, a cathedral church or a holy site designated by the local ordinary for the Year of Faith and there participate in a sacred celebration, or at least remain for a congruous period of time in prayer and pious meditation, concluding with the recitation of the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form, and invocations to the Blessed Virgin Mary and, depending on the circumstances, to the Holy Apostles and patron saints.”

Plenary Indulgence-

This is how an indulgence is defined in the Code of Canon Law (can. 992) and in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 1471):

"To acquire a plenary indulgence, it is necessary to perform the work to which the indulgence is attached and to fulfill the following three conditions: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff. It is further required that all attachment to sin, even venial sin, be absent."

What is a Pilgrimage?

Pilgrimages may be defined as journeys made to some place with the purpose of venerating it.

The Way of St James

Camino de Santiago | The Way of St James, Spain

Camino de Santiago de Compostela (in English: The Way of St. James) is a network of routes across Spain and Europe which all lead to Santiago de Compostela, in the northwest of Spain. In the Middle Ages, these routes were walked as a pilgrimage to the tomb of the apostle St. James.

The Northern Way (in Spanish: Camino de Santiago del Norte) which from the Basque Country follows the northern coast of Spain and the mountains of Asturias until Santiago.

A route to America's popular pilgrim destination.

[ this text taken from  http://www.caminotochimayo.blogspot.com/ ]

El Camino del Norte a Chimayó Pilgrimage

A route to America's popular pilgrim destination.

An effort was made in the summer of 2012 to create a pilgrim route to the Santuario de Chimayó in northern New Mexico beginning in Denver, Colorado. Chimayó is a popular pilgrim destination in the US with tens of thousands of pilgrims making the pilgrimage by foot every year, particularly during Holy Week.

Unlike the caminos in Spain, no network of pilgrim houses exists appropriately spaced to facilitate the pilgrimage. The feasibility of a pilgrim house system in Colorado and northern New Mexico was tested in the pioneer effort. The route originates in Denver, crosses the mountains between Monument and Woodland Park, again at Cripple Creek to Canon City, and into the San Luis Valley at Pass Creek Pass.

On 20 July 2012 a handful of peregrinos (pilgrims) left Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Denver, Colorado to embark on the first organized pilgrimage to travel along the backroads of Colorado and northern New Mexico to El Santuario de Chimayó. They hope to inspire the creation of El Camino del Norte a Chimayó, a pilgrimage route similar to that of Camino de Santiago de Compostela (The Way of Saint James) which passes through the southern tip of France and northern Spain.

Twenty days and 360 miles later the remnants of that original group arrived at Chimayó. The peregrinos entered the Shrine dedicated to Santa Niño de Atocha, the patron saint of peregrinos. At the Santo Niño de Atocha shrine they entered the tiny Prayer Room to give thanks for their safe completion of this pilgrimage.

It is hoped that this pilgrimage will serve as a focal point for the establishment of a permanent camino route to serve those individuals who seek the enlightenment that inevitably occurs from such a physical and spiritual journey.

Anyone interested in making this pilgrimage is encouraged to contact the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish at 303 477 1402 or the Santuario de Chimayo at 505 351 9961.

[ this text taken from http://www.elsantuariodechimayo.us/ ]

El Santuario de Chimayo 

The Legend of "Nuestro Señor de Esquipulas"

Legend has it that the Santuario de Chimayo, also called the Santuario de Nuestro Señor de Esquipulas, was built after a local friar performing penances saw a strange light burst from a hillside near the Santa Cruz River.

Curious, the friar sought the source of the light, which was coming from the ground. Dropping to his knees and digging in the sandy soil with his bare hands, he uncovered a crucifix, later christened Nuestro Señor de Esquipulas.

Three times this crucifix was taken in procession to the neighboring village and three times it disappeared, only to be found again back in its hole in the hillside. Deciding that Our Lord of Esquipulas wanted to stay in Chimayo, the people built a small chapel on the site of the discovery.

Soon the miraculous healings began, and by 1816 the original chapel had been replaced by the current Santuario.

An Historical Overview of El Santuario de Chimayo

The compound maintained by the Sons of the Holy Family contains two buildings of particular historical significance. The first is El Santuario de Chimayo, the tiny shrine that is built on the site of what many believe to be a miracle associated with the crucifix of "Nuestro Señor de Esquipulas" (Our Lord of Esquipulas). El Santuario de Chimayo is also the site of "el pocito" the small pit of Holy Dirt which many people attribute as possessing remarkable curative powers.