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Local youth to hike 800-kilometres of the Camino de Santiago in Spain

March 6, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By Paula Brown

An 11-year-old Mulmur resident is heading out for the journey of a lifetime.

Henry Little, known locally as Henry the Hiker, will be taking on his biggest hiking challenge yet as he prepares to set out on a nearly 800-kilometre hike of the Camino de Santiago in Spain.

The Camino de Santiago is a hiking route consisting of many different trail networks. Throughout the Middle Ages, thousands of pilgrims walked from their homes to make the journey to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela eventually paving the way for the more than 200 recognized routes across Europe that arrive together in the city.

Henry, along with his mother Carola Little, plan to hike a route known as the Camino Frances, also known as the French Way, which is the most famous of the Camino de Santiago routes.

The ancient pilgrimage trail spans roughly 800 kilometres across northern Spain, starting in the town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France and ending in the sacred city of Santiago de Compostela, where it is believed the remains of St. James are held.

In 2020, while quarantining due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Henry, who is an only child, began to go on daily explorations of a portion of the Bruce Trail that crosses through his family’s property. During this time, his interest in nature and the environment peaked as he discovered animal tracks, different species of trees and plants, and insects along the trail.

Hiking regularly in five to 10 km increments, Henry eventually completed the entire 67-kilometre Blue Mountain section of the Bruce Trail, and with that sparked the desire to hike all 900 kilometres of the Bruce Trail, which spans end-to-end from the Niagara River to the tip of Tobermory. 

From 2021 to 2024, Henry completed the Dufferin Hi-Land, Toronto, Beaver Valley, and Caledon Hills sections of the Bruce Trail, totalling just over 500 kilometres of the total 900 kilometres.

Since then, Henry has expanded his hiking bucket list, adding the goal of completing trails in every province and territory in Canada. He has now undertaken hikes in Ontario, Manitoba, and Alberta. In September 2022, he summited Tin Hat Mountain, a part of the Sunshine Coast Trail in British Columbia, known for being the longest hut-to-hut trail in Canada.

“My favourite part is the sites, like where there is a bench you can sit at and see amazing views. I love everything; the wildlife, the view, the waterfalls, the people and the adventure,” said Henry.

The hiking bug continued when in the winter of 2023 Henry watched the movie “The Way,” which documents a father’s journey in walking the Camino de Santiago after the death of his son.

“He said we really wanted to go do it, so I let that ruinate for a little bit because it’s one thing to say you want to do something and another to take it on,” said Carola. “We discussed it a couple months later and he was still on board.”

Initially discussing the 300-kilometre Portuguese route of the Camino, Henry was adamant about wanting to challenge himself with the 800-kilometre Camino Frances.

“It was the trail he saw in the movie and he wants to see those same sites in real life,” said Carola.

To prepare for the hike, Henry has been training with Tyler Harron a fitness trainer at Trainer Games in Shelburne. The duo train together twice a week, focusing on compound lifting exercises for strength and high-intensity interval training for cardio.

“It’s a lot of focus on making sure he has the strength in his legs and his core to be able to push through those 20-kilometre day hikes. Also making sure we have some gas in the tank by working his cardio and making sure his lungs get going and his heart gets beating,” said Harron.

Just as important as training Henry for the physical aspects of the hike, Harron is also preparing him for the mental hurdles of the long journey.

“We all know he’s done an amazing job with his hikes, and for something like this, being able to push yourself to those uncomfortable places is a challenge,” said Harron. “It’s about hitting that wall, yet you keep going because you’ve trained for it.”

While Harron trains Henry to take on the challenge, he shares his pride in the 11-year-old’s perseverance.

“Being able to train and have fun with him, to see his confidence building has been the most rewarding part of it all,” said Harron. “To me, he’s already won just by being willing to do this at 11 year’s old and I’m going to get him ready the best I can.”

Along the way, Henry has shared his hiking through photos and videos on his YouTube channel, Henry the Hiker. Henry plans to post updates daily on his Camino journey.

“I hope [the community] follows my adventure and for it to encourage others to get out and hike,” said Henry.

To help minimize the cost of the hiking trip, Henry is running a sponsorship campaign where local businesses can provide a donation and have a badge of their logo sown onto the backpack he’ll be using on the journey.

All proceeds raised through the campaign will go towards supporting Henry’s journey, including lodging and food.

Henry will be leaving for Europe on March 26 and will take his first steps onto the Camino Frances on April 6. He will take roughly eight weeks to complete the roughly 800 km and will return home in mid-June.

Community members can keep up to date with Henry’s journey by following him on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube at “Henry the Hiker.”

To learn more about Henry the Hiker, visit his website – www.henrythehiker.com.

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