Ancient pilgrimage teaches generosity
<p>Mary Merrill stands in the clothes she wore on her recent pilgrimage around the island of Shikoku, Japan. The trek, which required about a month to complete, took her to 88 temples. (Photo by DAVID GUNTER)</p>
SANDPOINT — There are two things you never want to lose on this pilgrimage — the map that leads you to the next temple and the logbook that gets stamped to show you’ve been there.
And there are two things you can absolutely count on as part of the trek — painfully difficult terrain and the unflagging kindness of complete strangers.
Mary Merrill completed the 745-mile odyssey over the course of 33 days this past May and June. The pilgrimage carried her to a total of 88 temples, all located on the Japanese island of Shikoku.
“You’re working your way around the entire island,” she said. “This was not a walk in the park. It is a grueling journey.”
No one knows that better than the Sandpoint-area resident, who walked nearly 500 miles of the trail and made other sections of the trip by train or bus when her feet were to blistered to hike.
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