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of my 8-9 walks, my 2013 LePuy to SdC was the best. 70 days of lovely walking and first half the French experience of local hospitality, and the second half the tradational Spanish experience of fellow pilgrims.
Do it!!!
CF has the best infrastructure.
I have met 2 people over the years that were doing marathon daily distances. Both had support vehicles and traveled with very light daypacks--never saw either again.
I also remet a Quebecois from a prior year that was doing 30-40 km days.
You will have long...
ALWAYS take the safest route!! It is a wonderful 35 day walk not to be ruined by impatience or shortcuts.
Down to Roncesvalles
Downhill into Zubiri.
Downhill into Molinaseca.
Some paths down from Vilacha.
Come to mind.
I always liked to donativo experience--especially in the earlier days. Stayed at only a few after 2013.
This tread got me thinking about a ‘donativo only’ camino. I did not look at the possible stages, but taking the numbers from the recent "All Albergues" list (reminds me of the French Amis...
Not useful except when checking out before a camino, but here is a link for trekking pole parts
https://cascademountaintech.com/collections/trekking-pole-replacement
Google may have others.
'Cobbles' on the Portuguese ended my 2017 Camino with trashed Achilles in both legs. It was to be for my 75th birthday. I was in reasonably good condition, but no amount of taping, insole changes, lacing changes, wearing of ankle braces could make it work. I started in Lisbon, walked a few...
Tough question; the metrics are squishy and compostela do not mean that much to me after the first. And I have done the 3 main French routes but ended in Santiago only on one from LePuy. I'd prefer to measure my joy of walking, and that is easiest by just counting the accumulated days for the...
Not exactly free, but will send free in return for your donation promise to one of the Camino charities: Forum, Peaceable Projects, donativo albergues, etc.
Contact me by PM. I am not fluent in forum use, so I have a random number in mind to award if multiple responses. I am slow on DM use and...
I found more mental peace on my caminos when I started thinking 'time' as my metric and (mostly) ignored distance. From teenage backpacking in the Sierras, I generally walk an hour and rest 5-15 minutes (more and I lock up) During rests I take off my shoes and socks and inspect my feet. Since...
I walked Lisbon towards Santiago in September 2017as a 75th birthday present to myself. It was my final camino and the only one that I had to quit--because both my Achilles were 'torn'. I am sure it is my individual body structure, but I could not find a way to protect against the cobbles...
Best thread in ages!! When I finished my first camino in 2005 (it was my consolation prize for a failed Pacific Crest Trail trip) I swore I would never do another. In 2006 walked LePuy and have had another 8 long walks since for a total of some 345 days. And it is only lately that I have...
I did the VdlP starting in late Oct 2010 after finishing the Vezelay in Pamplona--and taking a train to Seville. It was my toughest Camino by far: alone, poor Spanish, Alison Raju guidebook, few open bodega, maybe 5 other pilgrims until Zamora, most albergues locked so I had to find the nearby...
Here is my old list of stages from Brierly, amis.fr, and Gronze. So this is a list of places to avoid. Stop earlier or pass on by in favor of the next city. Bold cities show up as end stages in all three sources,
Day
Brierly
Amis.fr
Gronze
0
SJPDP
SJPDP
SJPDP
1
Roncesvalles...
John's guide was my constant companion on my 2005 Camino. I loved his balanced spirit approach as well as all the information. I used the margins as my diary as well. After my first camino, i only needed the single sheet guide that the amis in SJPdP provided. Navigating the camino is so...
One of the few playlists I have on my iphone for earbud listening as the albergue is settling in for sleep is: "Chanson"--a compliation of all the Piaf, Brassens, and Brel music cd I could find in my local library. A great listen IMO.
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