Handcart
Handcart
A handcart is an option for those who are walking a long way and want to be more self sufficient. It is not necessarily a good option for those with a health problem who want to avoid carrying a pack, pack carefully and your pack (for the main Camino in summer) could weigh as little as 4 kilos, which anyone can manage, whereas even the lightest cart could be a struggle over hard terrain.
Positive points: with a handcart you can carry more, including perhaps a large water container. If you are crossing France on foot, especially if you are not on the Le Puy to Vezalay route, this will be very useful as villages don't have public fountains like in Spain and can be 30km apart in places (especially in Les Landes). You could also carry 3 or 4 days food, useful as the shops are also a long way apart and except for the largest supermarkets French shops close for Sundays and Mondays or Sundays and Wednesdays in the South.
Plus there is just something wonderful about handcarting, it is closer to a true nomadic way of life than backpacking is, you can carry a book, musical instruments, a decent shelter etc. It has all the advantages of a donkey without most of the disadvantages.
Negative points: all but the lightest one wheeled cart will become difficult to handle on rough ground and next to impossible to get over some of the rockier narrow paths in Spain. From St Jean to Estella will be very hard going and you will have to use the road, much like a cyclist on a touring bike. The normal route using the Napoleon pass over the Pyrenees is impossible, though there is a road route between St Jean and Roncessvalles which though marked on the maps as a major highway is quite possible to walk along if you wear High Visibility clothing and take care. However it would get easier after that.
Also some Pilgrims will think you are cheating! You may find that the cart becomes awkward to leave unattended or get through the narrow streets of towns. It will attract a lot of attention, though you may enjoy this!
Making /buying your cart: You must decide on whether you want one wheel or two. Two can carry more and is more stable but one wheel will be better on rough terrain and narrow paths.
Two Wheels: Ours was made from the back half of an old adult tricycle with the front half cut off. A wooden flatbed and handles were added. With hindsight we should have used a metal mesh floor and metal tubular handles, this would have been stronger and lighter. A competent welder could make up a simple frame to which bicycle wheels could be attached, or you could adapt a commercial bike trailer. We attached rucksacks and instrument cases with bungees, again with hindsight a single large dry bag of the type touring canoe paddlers use would have been a lot less hassle.
One wheel: Again you could adapt a commercial bike trailer like the Bob Yak or the one wheeled trailer sold by Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative. These just need tubular metal handles attached, welded on or with jubilee clips. Or you could make one from scratch, perhaps using the forks and wheel of a scrap bicycle. I have encountered two commercially available trailers like this, but can't find a web presence for either.
Our handcart experience:
My partner and I left home in Dorset, England, to walk to Santiago in April 2005. We walked to Weymouth and got the ferry. When the ferry personnel heard we were walking for charity they let us take the handcart as if it was a bicycle. It was waiting for us when we disembarked in Saint Malo. It proved a big help, carrying food and water for us all across France. We carried a 10 litre water bottle which lasted two of us more or less 24 hours. However our cart was heavy and restricted us to minor roads, as the GR routes that the camino follows in north western France are boggy that time of year. However they are also very windy and avoid towns where you might want to buy food etc so perhaps following the roads was a better idea anyway! We found the cart annoying in town, pavements being narrow and obstructed in French towns compared to England, but on balance it was very useful. It also let us carry musical instruments.
However when we got to Spain the terrain became very difficult, none of the guidebooks adequately described the paths ahead so deciding whether to follow a stretch of footpath or whether to go along the road was tricky. Some of the camino had been diverted onto very steep and uneven footpaths due to new motorway construction. So we decided to send the cart back. We didnt need it anymore as water fountains were plentiful, as were bars and we were sleeping in refugios so didn't need the tent, and so posted it home from Estella. As it happens the path became much easier at that point, though we didn't know it at the time! However it was on balance the right decision. There isn't much of a minor road network in Spain compared to France and being forced onto the major road by bad terrain even for a while would have been dangerous.
To conclude we enjoyed our handcarting experience, though on balance would take a lighter, possibly single wheeled cart if doing a similar walk again. In fact we hope to walk the Via Francigena at some point, so will let you know how we get on!
