BrianLCrabtree
Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2023 Podiensis, Olvidado, Invierno
I’m on Day 42 from Le Puy and just finished Day 1 of the Olvidado in Güeñes. There are no yellow arrows, scallop shells, or signs from the Cathedral starting point and along the river in Bilbao. I first saw an arrow at about 6 km then they disappeared again until about 9 or 10 km. I did see some white and red blazes but I think they are for a different route because they turn away in places. Even after the arrows appear, they can be infrequent. For example, the Camino comes to a T intersection in Sodupe, but I didn’t see an indication of which way to turn. A friendly cyclist pointed me in the correct direction. I used the caminoolvidado.com navigation app and there are several others. I would have been lost without it. I used Buen Camino on the Podiensis and del Norte and GR10 on the, well, GR10. I had the same experience in San Sebastian and Guernica on the del Norte. The route markers or blazes seem to disappear in cities although I didn’t have that problem a year ago in Oviedo and Lugo on the Primitivo. I saw zero other pilgrims on my first day on the Olvidado. Fyi, the Hotel Erreka Güeñes is fine and Juan Carlo is great, but it’s about 700 m off the route. Not many options, though.