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  1. alhartman

    Which route has fewest cobblestones

    '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...
  2. alhartman

    How do you count your caminos?

    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...
  3. alhartman

    Best 5 days

    Pamplona to Logrono. Sampler flavor of the Frances. Gronze stage 3-7. And Pamplona has air and train and bus access.
  4. alhartman

    How far do most typically walk before resting?

    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...
  5. alhartman

    A hard landing upon returning home

    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...
  6. alhartman

    Stage/off-stage

    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...
  7. alhartman

    John Brierley is seriously ill - an invitation to send messages of thanks and support.

    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...
  8. alhartman

    Look back to Camino 2005

    @Mournes : Same pinchpoints in 2005. We were slow over Pyrenees and arrived at Roncevalles at 7pm for the last two upper beds--3 toilets and 3 showers, one broken for males. Alb in Leon was run by nuns and had separated male/female dorms--and locked the door at 930. (We opened for the...
  9. alhartman

    Look back to Camino 2005

    Healthy age 62; 31 days SjPdP to SdC (skipped some kilometres from injuries of walking partner) Only guidebooks were Alison Raju and John Brierly Main navigation guide was SJpdP amis handout in SJpdP—great spreadsheet No cell phones. No wifi Only 12 kodak instamatic photos Used locutorio or 1eu...
  10. alhartman

    Unattended Pack

    After seeing a waiter in Argentina ziptie my daybag to the cafe chair when I went to the toilet, I take a handful of large zip-ties and, in dodgier places, secure to something. Zips are easy to cut but it stops any grab and run.
  11. alhartman

    no toilet paper in washroom

    First (2005) Camino the morning business pilgrims were stealing whole rolls of tp to take with them for the day. Is it a camino angel when another pilgrim bought rolls from a store, rerolled into manageable smaller rolls, and offered up to fellow pilgrims?
  12. alhartman

    141 million euro "master plan" to develop the Caminos for the 2027 Holy Year

    I hope there is a "lessons learned' document from 1993 so infrastructure like this is avoided: And marketing/publicity like this:
  13. alhartman

    An "unofficial" Pilgrim Passport?

    Never had any trouble getting extra stuff stamped. One year I collected extra stamps on my white desert hat and neck flap. Great looking but eventually all wore off. But you do need an official credential for a compostela and sometimes for admission to albergues.
  14. alhartman

    “The worst footprint of the pilgrims”

    With 300,000 pilgrims a year, I am not convinced the even leaving a rock at Cruz de Ferro is wise anymore. Seems we should be back to what was appropriate in the fragile environment of the Sierras 40 years ago. "Take only pictures, leave only footprints"
  15. alhartman

    The queues in Santiago

    Queueing is also about number capacity as well as about systems (yes, I agree the current system is a terrible design and based on a silly legacy 100km arbitrary policy). I was blessed to discover the Camino ‘early’ (2005), 93k got Compostela then, in 2019 it was up to 347k. In 2005, 14k joined...
  16. alhartman

    My Camino regret!

    Regret covers a wide range as it is our way of dealing with something we would like to undo or something we would like to do differently or something we didn’t do but wanted to—all can be small or big. So for me, I have many small camino regrets but not a big one—just gratitude on the big...
  17. alhartman

    On the Camino, on this date in May...

    On May 29: 2005 Finisterre 2006 Auvillar (LePuy route) 2007 Sarria 2013 SjPdP (from lePuy on way to SdC)) 2016 Foncebadon And every single day, on every trip, was a blessing in my early ‘old-age’ (62-75). So grateful to have found the Camino.
  18. alhartman

    On the Camino, on this date in May...

    May 7th--spring walking is good for me 2005 Burgos: by bus from Santo Domingo Calzada with injured hiking companion. Stayed at now closed El Parral Municipal (crowded 100 beds, 8 showers, 8 toilets) in the park exiting Burgos. Nice dinner in the nearby University with American exchange...
  19. alhartman

    Do top bunks stop bed bugs?

    They are on the top bunks! After a great garlic soup in 2007 I watched as my hiking companion on the lower bunk next to mine was dive bombed. No bites tho as we had permethrin treated sleeping gear and use DEET on open skin.
  20. alhartman

    On this date in November...

    2010: into Santiago and Albergue Fogar Teodoromiro from Outeiro Vedra on the VdlP/Sanabres. 2010 was one of my long caminos. Started in Vezelay 14 September, walked to Pamplona with my brother. (Our side-trip to d'oradour-sur-glane has to be one of the most heartbreaking memorials I have ever...

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