Berkshire Camino

Americans, it is said, spend 90 percent of their time indoors, an indoors that is often crushingly loud with the sounds of television, music, telephone conversations and family interactions, all conducted over the background hum of refrigerators, fans, washing machines and their kin. Rather than a sanctuary, the home can be a hectic place.

All of which makes the hikes organized by Mindy Miraglia, founder of Berkshire Camino, that much more alluring in the stress-filled atmosphere of 2021. A Camino is a “way” or “road,” often associated with pilgrimages. Miraglia, herself, walked the entire 250 mile length of the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain over which pilgrims have traversed since the 9th century. She brought the concept of contemplative walks to the Berkshires, where she guides hikers along a variety of routes “at the rate of curiosity.”

“I layer in the pilgrimage aspect of sacred walks, encouraging people to take part in a mindfulness retreat on foot,” she said. “The walks have all these layers and sometimes it melds beautifully.”

While the walks can be equally delightful without the spiritual aspect, she says she asks participants to set an “intention” for the experience. “People say things like gratitude, to meet new people or maybe there is something heavier they are holding,” she said. “Those of us who live to be this age, we’ve been through a lot.

“Then we do something I call ‘walking at the speed of curiosity,’ slow enough to see what is around us, to register how our bodies feel. At the end, I invite the walkers to let a burden go—perhaps by throwing a rock into the Housatonic River. On the Camino de Santiago, there is the Cruz de Ferro, or Iron Cross, between the towns of Foncebadón and Manjarín. People will often bring a rock from home and put their worries and burdens on the stone and leave it behind on a huge pile. We replicate that on our walks. People are often moved by that. I tell people this is a methodology they can take home.”

The Berkshire Camino walks themselves come in a variety of lengths and destinations. She notes that hikers on the Appalachian Trail typically carry all they need for their existence with them, descending into towns only occasionally. “When you walk a Camino, you are literally walking town to town, through vineyards and big cities,” she said. “What I am doing is connecting the towns, often seeing things of cultural or historic significance.

In one walk, for instance, we stop at a farm and part of the experience is to meet the cows, to go the calf nursery, to see the ‘teenagers’ in the fields while the big cows are milked. Then we top it off with ice cream. You can sponsor a cow there and we actually have one named Camino. That is part of the fun about that walk, everyone hears the story of Camino.”

Other points of interest on hikes are The Mount, author Edith Wharton’s home, where groups walk through the grounds and down to the Main Street in Lenox. “We also go to Chesterwood, home of sculptor Daniel Chester French in Stockbridge, and today we walked from downtown Stockbridge to downtown Lee. Hikes range from two to eight miles and we have a Berkshire narrative, teaching about the indigenous people, colonial settlers and the Gilded Age. People really get a sense of the area.”

Berkshire Camino is only in its second year and Miraglia is busy refining the concept. With most of her clients over the age of 50, she said some of the hike routes have proved to be “too aggressive.” “Eight miles is a little much,” she said, “so I have started taking the best of these walks and pulling out segments. That has been appealing.”

She is assisted in the walks by three other guides, called leaders, and four “sweeps” who follow the individual groups to assist walkers who fatigue or fall behind. “It’s a woman-owned business and all my guides are women—although I don’t mean to indicate I wouldn’t hire a man,” she said. “Solo women are a growing segment of the travel industry and I really think the Berkshires are an area that can be enjoyed on your own. I attract quite a number of solo women, I think because they feel safe.”

Miraglia grew up in the Berkshires before leaving for other locales. “I found my way magically back to the Berkshires after 29 years. It’s home. Now my goal is to extend my tours throughout the entirety of the Berkshires and to eventually offer multi-day hikes.”

Town-to-town hikes are offered nearly every Saturday and Sunday until late fall. For more information please click on the link below, call 413-327-4312 or email info@berkshirecamino.com.