Most of the books I have read about the Camino experience can be placed on a continuum from the most spiritual to the most secular. “Hiking the Camino” would begin the continuum as the most spiritual. The author is a Catholic priest who walked the Camino to give thanks to God on the anniversary of his 15 years in the priesthood.
There is no angst. Father Dave, an American, is thrilled that he was called to the priesthood. He lives his faith. He believes that all the events of his pilgrimage were sent to him by God to make him a better person and therefore a better priest.
Walking with another priest, Father Joe, the author began the Camino France´s in the Spring of 2006 with a heavier pack than many because he carried his Mass Kit, as both priests planned to say mass everyday.
Sprinkled throughout the book are the usual descriptions of the Camino experience – sore feet, interesting people, good food, crowded hostels. However, for the most part the book reads like a sermon – a very good sermon, but still a treatise on how to live like a good Christian.
As I said earlier, there is a place for this book in the literature of the Camino. It explores one reason and perhaps the original reason why many have chosen to endure The Way.
I would also like to add that these Franciscan fathers said their masses often outdoors – by streams, under trees, in quiet grottoes. I would love to have attended one of those services.