Burgos to SDC Mar 2019

[Melange]

Hi all,
I am planning on walking from Burgos to SDC next month. I am fit(ish) but have a bad knee so will need to take it a bit easy.
Which stages are the really hilly ones ( I believe the one to O Cebreiro is the most challenging)? I have 24 days max to include rest days. Maybe start at Carillon instead? Any advice or info welcome. Thank you.

 

[Turga]

It is around 500 km from Burgos to SDC, so considering some rest days and a bad knee I guess it could be a bit tight.

The climb to O’Cebriero is steep but not very long. What you may have to worry about with a bad knee is the descent from Cruz de Ferro to Molinaseca, which at places is steep and uneven. Especially if wet/raining you’d have to be careful.

 

[Melange]

Thank you - that is really helpful. I will check out the profile on gronze.

Love the quotation btw. Where is it from?

 

[Turga]

Love the quotation btw. Where is it from?

The quotation is from Rudyard Kipling's 'Kim'

 

[Melange]

Thank you. I never read it but just read part of Ch 1. Extraordinary.

 

[Mark McCarthy]

Having done this three times via, the trail, I did this last summer and went on the road all the way from Cruz de Ferro to Molinaseca. It is longer, there is a little traffic and it is not as pretty as the trail (but it is still pretty). We stopped overnight in El Acebo which felt enough. All in all much kinder on the knees.

 

[LynneR]

I walked the same distance last summer with a bad knee. I agree that the descent is the worst part, as the previous posts state. I'm not sure how bad your knee is, but if you take your time, take breaks, use your walking sticks, and have the appropriate tape or wrap for your knee, it is manageable.

I also took the road at one point instead of the steeper, rockier path(I think it was the same section as Mark M. used). It was fine and I was a bit relieved to be off the uneven path for a bit.
Good luck and enjoy.

 

[AlwynWellington]

What you may have to worry about with a bad knee is the descent from Cruz de Ferro to Molinaseca, which at places is steep and uneven. Especially if wet/raining you’d have to be careful

@Melange , not only is the "descent steep and uneven in places" but also littered with loose rubble or over smooth rocks. Discretion may be the better part of valour in this instance. That being so, with your dodgy knee I strongly urge you to consider either busing from Astorga to Ponferada or calling for a taxi from Cruz itself.

From a thread on tricky sections a few years ago I recall these two tricky sections:

Fonfria (after O Cebreiro) to Tricastela. The signed path is nearly 10 km and also very steep with sections of rubble and smooth stone. The road is just over 11 km and winds back and forth.

Portomarin - the last kilometre before the bridge. The choice is well signed with large posters showing the choices. To the right a steep descent over soft, well rutted clay. To the left a gentler and slightly longer descent down a road and at the bottom an uneven track behind houses fronting the main road.

For your pilgrimage I say kia kaha (take care, be strong, get going)

 

[AlwynWellington]

@Melange , you may also care to read the thread at this link:
Steep (really steep) descents on unsealed surfaces - how to avoid them?

 

[Jim]

Hi all,
I am planning on walking from Burgos to SDC next month. I am fit(ish) but have a bad knee so will need to take it a bit easy.
Which stages are the really hilly ones ( I believe the one to O Cebreiro is the most challenging)? I have 24 days max to include rest days. Maybe start at Carillon instead? Any advice or info welcome. Thank you.

Given the number of days you have, use a bus from Burgos to get to Sahagun (the official midway point of the Camino Frances) or even Leon and walk in from there. ALSA bus has good services between those points. As another poster commented, the descents are the worse parts, not really the climbs. If you find yourself short of transportation services to get yourself west of the Cruz de Ferro area, go slow and be very careful. I also have bad knees with medial meniscus tear on L knee and partial lateral meniscus tear on the R knee. I have a pull up brace for R knee and an “Ossur unloader one” brace for the L knee. Before departure, get with a physical therapist to review proper way to descend to avoid hurting yourself. Or at least research that out online. There are other descents as well although less taxing than the one from Cruz de Ferro. All of Galicia (Green Spain) is hilly so there are many streams with descents into stream bed areas and ascents to get out of them. This occurs over and over until you near Santiago. John Brierley’s book has good hill profiles, and I believe you could find those online as well. Buen Camino!

 

[Turga]

That being so, with your dodgy knee I strongly urge you to consider either busing from Astorga to Ponferada or calling for a taxi from Cruz itself.

And miss the nice walk into Rabanal and the beautiful villages of Rabanal and Molinaseca altogether? No!

I would say that anyone in reasonably good shape, with a reasonably good set of legs and perhaps a good walking pole/walking sticks (and knowing how to use it/them), should go by the mountain trail –it’s a beautiful walk. But, if it is raining or if the trail is wet, then go by the road.

You could also consider breaking the descent by staying a night in the pension in Riego de Ambros.

 

[Melange]

Having done this three times via, the trail, I did this last summer and went on the road all the way from Cruz de Ferro to Molinaseca. It is longer, there is a little traffic and it is not as pretty as the trail (but it is still pretty). We stopped overnight in El Acebo which felt enough. All in all much kinder on the knees.

Thanks Mark - that sounds like a great solution.

 

[Melange]

Thank you everyone - being new to the forum all your advice to a newbie here and a fairly novice pilgrim is brilliant. I will look at all these options with gratitude. ( Actually I did consider starting at Carillon de los Condos too.
With gratitude

 

[naplesdon]

Having done this three times via, the trail, I did this last summer and went on the road all the way from Cruz de Ferro to Molinaseca. It is longer, there is a little traffic and it is not as pretty as the trail (but it is still pretty). We stopped overnight in El Acebo which felt enough. All in all much kinder on the knees.

The walk up the hill from Rabanal to Cruz de Ferro is manageable, if you do it slowly. The walk down the hill is completely different, it is like walking in a dried up creek bed. I have never walked it in the rain. If it was raining I would only go as far as el Acebo and walk the road mindful of any truck coming around the next turn.

 

[Saint Mike II]

Having done this three times via, the trail, I did this last summer and went on the road all the way from Cruz de Ferro to Molinaseca. It is longer, there is a little traffic and it is not as pretty as the trail (but it is still pretty). We stopped overnight in El Acebo which felt enough. All in all much kinder on the knees.

Hola Mark, are you actually saying that you walked ALL the way down the road from the Cruz to Molinaseca???
I cycled down this route on a Sunday back in 2015 and I would strongly advise against walking this section. From memory there is very little "shoulder" to enable walkers to get off the road, plus and its a big plus, many drivers take whatever short cuts they can on those blind corners. So despite your experiences I would not encourage walking this road between Manjarin and Acebo or Molinaseca. I walked this route back in May/June 2017 and using two poles and taking my time I managed Rabanal to Riego de Ambros, with a lunch stop in Acebo. (I think it took 5 or 6 hours).

 

[Mark McCarthy]

I had lost (forgotten) my poles and without poles it is the safer of the two options as well as being kinder to your knees. To be honest there was little traffic and the cyclist were probably more of threat than the cars as they often more difficult to hear.

 

[Felipe]

I have a bad knee, too.
As I remember it, after Cruz de Ferro and circumventing a former military base there are some short tricky sections, where I chose the paved road (with almost no traffic). No big issue, it was mostly a preventive option. The bad part is the last mile before El Acebo, after crossing the paved road (here in Google Maps, I notice now a sign saying "Camino de Santiago ruta peatonal" , but I don't know if it is still there). After El Acebo is easy, with a pleasant stroll along a stream after Riego de Ambrós. The problem is when you cross again the road (where you can see also some big electricity utility poles). As mentioned, it is a steep descent, with loose gravel. I almost limped my way down to Molinaseca and the church very properly named "Nuestra Señora de las Angustias". It is more or less a mile.
On the other side, it is beautiful; and I took a look at the paved road, and did not have a good feeling about the idea of walking it. I know that many pilgrims take this alternative option...If I do this stage again, I would decide on the spot.