Beating the heat in the Pyrenees - need help with backup plan

[AndaPronto]

This week's heat is throwing our plans a bit - which is fine -but I wanted some insight into what we are up against so that we can create a 'backup plan'.

We are arriving to SJPDP on the hottest day this week - which is predicted to be 101 degrees and we have Orisson booked for the following night (94 degrees that day). We arrive in the evening, and I was hoping to spend the morning hours having a nice breakfast in SJPDP, shopping for provisions for the hike to Roncesvalles and heading up to Orrison starting at noon. I am now concerned that we will need to leave early in the morning because of the heat. So - that brings me to my string of questions.

- Are there grocery stores open late in the evening (past 20:00) or very early in the morning to buy food for the trek to Roncesvalles (we will stay in Orisson, but I understand there is nowhere to buy food from Orisson to Roncesvalles...for the following day - so food should be bought in SJPDP).
- If it is 94 degree F in SJPdP, it is a lot cooler in the mountains? Or can we expect and plan for it to be 94 degrees from Orisson to Roncesvalles?
- Is there a way to call for a taxi from the mountain in case the kids just can't handle the heat and we need to get a ride the rest of the way to Roncesvalles?
- Is there any place to get more water between Orisson and Roncevalles - all 4 of us will have camel backs in our packs...but...just in case....

I guess worst case - we enjoy SJPDP for a full day, skip Orisson and get a ride to Roncesvalles the following day...but I was soooo looking forward to the Pyrenees!

Thanks for your help!

 

[pilgr]

This week's heat is throwing our plans a bit - which is fine -but I wanted some insight into what we are up against so that we can create a 'backup plan'.

We are arriving to SJPDP on the hottest day this week - which is predicted to be 101 degrees and we have Orisson booked for the following night (94 degrees that day). We arrive in the evening, and I was hoping to spend the morning hours having a nice breakfast in SJPDP, shopping for provisions for the hike to Roncesvalles and heading up to Orrison starting at noon. I am now concerned that we will need to leave early in the morning because of the heat. So - that brings me to my string of questions.

- Are there grocery stores open late in the evening (past 20:00) or very early in the morning to buy food for the trek to Roncesvalles (we will stay in Orisson, but I understand there is nowhere to buy food from Orisson to Roncesvalles...for the following day - so food should be bought in SJPDP).
- If it is 94 degree F in SJPdP, it is a lot cooler in the mountains? Or can we expect and plan for it to be 94 degrees from Orisson to Roncesvalles?
- Is there a way to call for a taxi from the mountain in case the kids just can't handle the heat and we need to get a ride the rest of the way to Roncesvalles?
- Is there any place to get more water between Orisson and Roncevalles - all 4 of us will have camel backs in our packs...but...just in case....

I guess worst case - we enjoy SJPDP for a full day, skip Orisson and get a ride to Roncesvalles the following day...but I was soooo looking forward to the Pyrenees!

Thanks for your help!

I highly recommend you leave EARLY! It is a low of 67 in the morning. Buy food TWO days before if you are worried about food. I have stayed at Orisson and with their restaurant, they will feed you meals (and pack you a lunch, if I remember correctly). It is generally cooler in the mountains. Drink plenty of water. I remember there being at least one vendor along the route selling snacks. Unless you are incredibly slow, I wouldn't worry too much other than leaving EARLY!

 

[Kanga]

Hi @AndaPronto - lovely to see how you and children are progressing. Please keep us informed as you go along (start a new thread with the "live from the camino" at the beginning of the thread title).

As to your questions, there should be shops open in SJPDP past 20:00 at this time of the year (although they do not stay open as late in France as they do in Spain) and I think the albergue at Orisson will provide a lunch pack for the following day if you let them know in time. Some concentrated trail mix is an easy thing to carry; if you are concerned buy some before you get on the train for SJPDP.

You are right, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, between Orisson and Roncesvalles. Unless you are lucky; sometimes there is a mobile drinks van parked near the Vierge de Orisson.

More important than food, is water. Good that you have camelbacks - although I'm not usually a fan in this case it is useful as you will need plenty. There is a water fountain just at the border crossing into Spain, over the top, but it is a long way til then and I'm not sure if it is always running.

I walked the Route Napoleon one year in June, with my daughter, and it was very, very hot. Until we got to the descent side of the route there was virtually no shade. The Pyrenean vultures were circling overhead in a large flock and we thought we were being sized up as their next meal, when we expired from heat exhaustion.... Still, we made it and the views were spectacular.

I would be taking cheap umbrellas for everyone - get them from a $2 shop and it does not matter is they get thrown away later (although I love my umbrella for rain as well).

The third time I walked was also hot, clear and sunny, but we were blessed with a cool wind. Lovely.

As to your question about alternative transport - there is a road that goes a long way up the Route Napoleon - quite a bit past Orisson. So there is no need to decide now to skip Orisson - if you get there and really think the next day is too hard you could call a taxi from there. It does not have to go back to SJPDP as there is a road across to the Valcarlos crossing and from there to Roncesvalles.

I agree. Although not usually an early riser on Camino, in this heat an early start from Orisson is the way to go. Don't wait for breakfast.

 

[Gail A.]

When I stayed at Orisson in May 2015, I only brought some snacks and bottled water with me from SJPP. When I arrived at the Orisson albergue, lunch items could be purchased, and you could order a sandwich to be picked up the next morning for the trek to Roncesvalles. That night a pilgrim dinner was served to everyone staying overnight at the Orisson albergue. In the morning there was coffee and bread available for breakfast. I believe that there is a water source available on the trek over the mountain to Roncesvalles, but I missed it. I was carrying two bottles of water, and that was all that I needed. The Orisson albergue is on a road, and vehicles are available to transport pilgrim's packs to Roncesvalles, so I am sure that a taxi can be arranged if you do not want to do the hike out of Orisson. Once you have left the albergue and are enroute to Roncesvalles, however, you will not pass any other towns or inns, so summoning a taxi might be difficult. Perhaps others can comment on this. It is a spectacular trek over the mountain, and worth doing if you feel that you can handle the heat.

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

This week's heat is throwing our plans a bit - which is fine -but I wanted some insight into what we are up against so that we can create a 'backup plan'.

We are arriving to SJPDP on the hottest day this week - which is predicted to be 101 degrees and we have Orisson booked for the following night (94 degrees that day). We arrive in the evening, and I was hoping to spend the morning hours having a nice breakfast in SJPDP, shopping for provisions for the hike to Roncesvalles and heading up to Orrison starting at noon. I am now concerned that we will need to leave early in the morning because of the heat. So - that brings me to my string of questions.

- Are there grocery stores open late in the evening (past 20:00) or very early in the morning to buy food for the trek to Roncesvalles (we will stay in Orisson, but I understand there is nowhere to buy food from Orisson to Roncesvalles...for the following day - so food should be bought in SJPDP).
- If it is 94 degree F in SJPdP, it is a lot cooler in the mountains? Or can we expect and plan for it to be 94 degrees from Orisson to Roncesvalles?
- Is there a way to call for a taxi from the mountain in case the kids just can't handle the heat and we need to get a ride the rest of the way to Roncesvalles?
- Is there any place to get more water between Orisson and Roncevalles - all 4 of us will have camel backs in our packs...but...just in case....

I guess worst case - we enjoy SJPDP for a full day, skip Orisson and get a ride to Roncesvalles the following day...but I was soooo looking forward to the Pyrenees!

Thanks for your help!

Hi, everything is already said.
My best day's where in the Pyrenees.
Begin early and you just be fine.
Wish you a wonderful journey and a Buen Camino, Peter.
Y
PS. You will not miss the views up there.

 

[Jo Jo]

I agree with what has been written before--leave early and you'll be fine (based on walking July/Aug. 2014). I write only to explain that early is, at the latest, 6:00 am. Often 5:30 (with headlamps on). When we first started, we thought early was 8-9am (it was vacation after all). Don't try it. Leave that late, and you'll end up walking into the afternoon when the sun gets very hot, leading to sweating feet and blisters. Bad blisters. We would try to be done walking by 1pm. Anything later than that is asking for foot troubles. People will see you leaving at 5:30 or 6 am and think you are in a bed race. You are not. You are in a sun race. This will become more and more important as you get through Pamplona and down to lower and lower elevations.

Buen Camino,
Jo Jo

 

[AndaPronto]

Thank you for all of your tips and encouragement. I think that we will try it. I have been prepping the kids that it will be 'really hard and they will feel really bad the first couple days because of jet lag, the long walks and the heat' - but I'm hoping by doing that they will think that I was crazy because it wasn't that bad! I'm going to run out and buy some small, cheap umbrellas. 5:30? Ugh - but thank you for defining 'early'. I was thinking 7am.

 

[SYates]

How old are the kids btw? Buen Camino, SY

 

[AndaPronto]

How old are the kids btw? Buen Camino, SY

9 and almost 11 - pre-pre-teen.

 

[SYates]

Ok, for the walk up to Orisson do start at first light, better to arrive too early than to be caught out in the heat. Carry lots of water and salty snacks plus bananas. Consider to have your main backpacks transported, only carry the essentials (water, food, rain/sun protection) during the day. Enjoy Orrisson and order a packed lunch for the next day. Again, start with first light, there will be no shade to speak of until you reach the forest after the summit/before Roncesvalles. Make sure your mobiles are charged and - more important than anything else - Have a Buen Camino! SY

 

[billmclaughlin]

I'm less enthusiastic than others about launching your Camino and more especially your kids' Camino with what sounds like a grueling introduction. (I had a great trek over the Pyrenees in high winds with some ice underfoot, but I have a real phobia when in comes to unrelieved sun, so that informs my view.)

So all I can say is: be sure to talk to the pilgrim office in SJPP and the experienced hosts in Orisson. They can size you up against the latest conditions far better than we over the Net.

 

[Cayou]

So, we know Orisson sells meals and pack lunch ... do they also sell bottled water? Have 24 Aug booked for wife & I and would appreciate that necessary piece of info.
Thx!

 

[jsalt]

do they also sell bottled water?

Yes, they sell bottled water. They will also fill up your empty bottle from the tap for free . I have yet to find a bar anywhere in Europe that does not sell bottled water.

 

[SYates]

So, we know Orisson sells meals and pack lunch ... do they also sell bottled water? ...

Yes, but tap water is perfectly drinkable also, no reason to burden the environment with more plastic bottles! Buen Camino, SY

 

[domigee]

There is a water fountain just outside the Orrisson albergue, next to the terrace.
Buen camino.