East Bay Dinner

"Pilgrimage Walk on Spain's Camino de Santiago (the Way of St. James)"

Thursday, September 23, no-host cocktails/social hour - 6 pm, dinner - 7:00, program - 8:00, Berkeley Yacht Club on the Berkeley Marina, one block north of the west end of University Avenue (ample free parking is available in the Marina parking lots).

Spain's Camino de Santiago is an historic route that people have traveled for over 1,000 years to visit the remains of St. James that reside in the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. Their pilgrimage was made to earn merit, to be forgiven sins, to earn "indulgences," and to work off penalties for various crimes. Nowadays, while many still make this journey for spiritual reasons, others make this pilgrimage to interact with a foreign culture and to make a long-distance hike through a beautiful country.

Susan Alcorn and her husband Ralph hiked 400 of the Camino's 500 miles in September/October 2001, averaging about 12 miles a day. They stayed in "refugios" (a system of hostels along the trail) and in small hotels in the villages along the way.

They started in the picturesque small towns of the high Pyrenees, where flocks of sheep are common; on to the fortress town of Pamplona, famed for its running of the bulls; then to the Rioja region with its fertile red soils and beautiful vineyards; across the Meseta often described as "nine months of winter and three months of hell"; and finally, into Galicia, the lush, green region of Spain.

Susan is the author of We're in the Mountains Not Over the Hill—Tales and Tips of Seasoned Women Backpackers. This latest book interweaves her Sierra backpacking adventures with the wilderness adventures of three dozen other women from across the United States (More information at www.backpack45.com

Susan and Ralph are also Sierra Club life members and Bay Area residents.

Come join us a for a beautiful slide show of their hike along the Camino de Santiago from Roncesvalles just over the border in France to the major city of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

Dinner is $20 including tax and tip. To make a reservation, please send your check, made payable to the "Sierra Club", with your name and telephone number, to:

Jane Barrett
170 Vincente Road
Berkeley, CA 94705
(510) 845-8055

Attendance is limited to the first 115 reservations received. There is no admittance for the program only. Reservation deadline is Thu., Sep. 9. Reserve early as the dinners do fill up.