San Francisco Dinner

"A Solo Walk: the Santiago de Compostela Pilgrimage Trail"

Thursday, March 16, social hour 6 pm, dinner 7, show 8 - City Forest Lodge, 254 Laguna Honda Boulevard, San Francisco (across from Laguna Honda Hospital and downhill from Forest Hill Station; take Muni's K, L, M, or 43). Come early for street parking (no sidewalk parking please).

Lynne Ashdown, a lifelong athlete but not much of a hiker, wonders what possessed her, alone and 67, to embark on a 400-mile walk on the Santiago pilgrimage trail. This extreme journey took her from St. Jean Pied de Port in the French Pyrenees, westward across northern Spain, to Santiago. The trip took 42 days, 33 of them walking. She wanted to recreate her connection with earth, God, and the peace she had had years before when she had cycled alone halfway across the U.S. She hoped to find who she was now and her real purposes for the rest of her life.

Lynne will share her experiences and memories: the places she almost quit, the images of waves of wind across vast fields of grain, deep green mountains of the Pyrenees; valleys shrouded in fog, the shared pilgrim bond with companions whose language she could not speak, steaming cafe con leche at a village bar, the rhythm of her hiking poles, the hurting, the quiet forest paths, hard sidewalks through cities, and revelations which were gifts of the long spaces in which to think.

Reservations are required (no attendance for program only). Mail check for $13.50 made out to "Sierra Club, S.F. Bay Chapter" to Barb Bourns at:

274A Connecticut St.
San Francisco, CA 94107

Checks must be received by Mon., March 13. Specify clearly which month's dinner you want. Bring your own wine or soft drinks. Glasses and ice available. Let us know if you are a vegetarian. Questions? Call Barb before 9 pm at (415) 431-6054.