Sneak peak of Dr. Challenger’s El Camino documentary on campus

by Zachary Brehmeyer
edited by Tyler Comeau

A documentary showcased the fourth annual El Camino hike in 2017 that Douglas Challenger leads students on every other year.

Only half of the documentary was shown at the event. Professor Challenger was not at the event to answer questions, but his phone number was provided if anyone wanted to watch the second half of the documentary or had any questions for him. 23 students attended the event.

The trip starts in northern France and ends in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Students on the trip spend the first two weeks of the trips learning spanish and discussing the hike. The trail is around 500 miles long and the trip that Challenger lead was three months. Five students joined Challenger on the trip in 2017.

(Photo: Zachary Brehmeyer)

One of the students on the trip, Michael Bona, said, “I feel it will make me better as a person in general.” His backpack weighed 30 pounds and he said, “The weight of my back pack, I see as the weight of the world.”

About a week into the trip, Challenger talked to the students about turning off their cell phones the next day. Three of the students complied. Challenger said “It’s a different perspective than yesterday that is for sure.”

Challenger also said, “We always want to hear what the students are thinking on these trips.” This was in regards to a discussion that happened on the trip between Challenger, his wife Laurie Challenger, and the students. The conversation was only mentioned in the documentary.