A(nother) Walk to Remember

A pair of pants and shorts, socks and underwear, three t-shirts, toiletries, a pair of well-worn trail running shoes, a roll of all-purpose duct tape, a tablet for photos and a 28-liter backpack to carry it in – that’s all Hanna Alger plans to take with her next month when, at 84 years old, she’ll hike the famed Camino de Santiago in northern Spain alone.

Beginning in Pamplona, Alger will trek about 400 miles over the course of six weeks to Santiago de Compostela – a pace of more than nine miles a day.

“I’ve always been a walker,” said Alger from her home at Piedmont Gardens senior living community. “I’m not very athletic, but I’m willing to get on my hands and knees if that’s what it takes to get from A to B. I have one rule – I must move each day in the direction I’m going, even if it’s just 50 feet.”

Amazingly, Alger didn’t start distance hikes until six years ago when she completed the Camino de Santiago the first time. In recent years she’s also completed the Portuguese Camino, a 380-mile hike from Lisbon to Santiago de Compostela, and the old Iron Curtain route between former West and East Germany.

“I was 78 years old before I had a backpack; I’d never done long distance walks of any kind,” said Alger, who’s suffered from severe osteoporosis for nearly 35 years. “I was told I shouldn’t have anything on my back. So for years, I just resisted.”

Alger doesn’t carry a tent or sleeping bag, preferring to stop each night at the many hostel-like community lodgings that border the trail. Despite being one of the more senior pilgrims, Alger says the journey has a funny way of establishing parity with most hikers.

“I don’t feel like I need to take long breaks,” she said. “Younger hikers will go striding ahead, but we seem to always arrive at the destination at the same time each night. It’s a real tortoise and hare situation.”

Alger doesn’t have a special training regimen or diet plan – she walks. A few days a week she does longer 4-mile routes, and says the natural hills and parks of the East Bay are good preparation for the Camino’s terrain. She also takes shorter walks around Piedmont Gardens with her dog, reflecting the active lifestyle that’s a key part of the senior living community’s culture.

The burning question Alger often receives is, “Why?” She says it’s different for everyone. Some want solitude, to disconnect from their hectic schedules. Some see it as an incredible physical accomplishment. Others simply enjoy the outdoors. Her motivation shifts with each hike she attempts.

“The first hike, I really wanted to try and find out who am I, beyond a wife and mother,” she said. “The second one was more about losing myself and recognizing my small place in this big, grand universe. This time I’m hoping to discover how I can integrate myself into this world, and discover just where do I fit in with this incredible movement of human beings.”

Alger’s pilgrimage will take place Sept. 1 through Oct. 15, beginning in Pamplona, near the French border, and ending in Santiago de Compostela, in Spain’s northwest.

About Piedmont Gardens

For 50 years, Piedmont Gardens has offered older adults in North Oakland a vibrant retirement option. Just across the bridge from San Francisco and close to UC Berkeley, the community is steps from Piedmont Avenue’s diverse shops and restaurants. Additionally, the community offers residents the complete spectrum of living options, from independent living and assisted living to skilled nursing and memory care. Piedmont Gardens is owned and operated by HumanGood, a nonprofit public benefit corporation serving older adults since 1949.