Heading to St. Jean Nov 3

[GeorgeC]

Heading to St. Jean to start Nov. 3 - with wife, first time, from Pennsylvania-things look like they are getting a bit colder - are albergues heated?
Thanks so much for all the good information here.

Continuing to try to lighten the backpack!

 

[NorthernLight]

Some are heated, some not so much. You will appreciate having a warm sleeping bag system at this time of the year. Some alburgues put on some heat in the evening and then it gets turned off in the night. Some heat only the common area.

Buen camino!

 

[GeorgeC]

Thanks very much! I'm trying to keep things light and investigating a down quilt rather than sleeping bag - saves weight and space. Haven't made final decision yet.

 

[nycwalking]

As @NorthernLight said: take a bag.

Prepare for mud and more sticky mud.

Have a wonderful time.

Buen camino to you both.

 

[trecile]

Don't forget that the Napoleon route will be closed, and you will have to take the Valcarlos route.

 

[NorthernLight]

I walked in Nov last year and used a silk liner with a down quilt. I enjoyed the flexibility of having three options available for varied conditions: one, the other, or both together.

 

[mspath]

There is no standard in all albergues along the trail. Some are heated, some not. Often the heat will be turned off during the coldest hours of the night!!

Thus In cold weather never choose a bunk placed against an exterior wall since old walls are often uninsulated and thus frigid. All night heating is not the norm hence make a cozy 'sandwich' for sleeping by folding a blanket in half the long way, place your sleeping bag on top of the bottom half and pull the top half over all. If there are no blankets put your poncho beneath the bag to block the cold air from rising.

Runner's winter tights, a long sleeve runner's shirt and loose socks as well as a warm hat are great to wear to bunk/bed wben it is really cold. Over the past years the coldest I have ever slept on the camino was late February 2006 in the then unheated Hornillos del Camino municipal albergue. Breath hung white in the frigid interior air and ice formed in the toilet bowl. Nevertheless dressed as above I was snug in my sleeping bag and liner.

Be prepared, stay safe and warm. Buen camino to both you and your wife.

 

[Anna Kay]

My husband and I are starting with a night in Roncevalles on Saturday (we did SJPP -> Roncevalles in September) so maybe we'll see you there? We are taking down sleeping bags. Our baseline weight is backpack + sleeping bag (2.7 kg for me and 2.8 for him) and we go from there. We live just the other side of the Pyrenees and it has turned cold with snow down to about 800 m. We're more concerned about cold nights than cold days. Light rain forecast in NW Spain for the beginning of next week, then should be drier.

 

[GeorgeC]

Thanks for the good information -- base layers and down it is! Anna Kay - we'll be in St. Jean hopefully Friday, then maybe Saturday to Valcarlos or Roncevalles, so look for us - we'll be the tenderfeet meandering along! If I can figure out the protocol on this site for a private message will send you one! Buen camino and thank you all!