Camino del Norte FROM Santiago

[Walter1407]

I plan to walk the Camino del Norte from West to East, starting mid / late July 2015.

My questions:
- Is the path marked for pilgrims who walk in the "wrong" direction? Do I need a good map?
- Are there long stretches where no food and drink is available?
- What are the average and maximum distances between refugios or other forms of accommodation? I am an oldie and don't manage to walk more than 25km per day (less if the track is tough). Might I find places where I can sleep rough but am protected from rain?
- I understand that on the Camino del Norte I won't experience the sort of heat that one often finds on the Camino Frances. What kind of rainfall do I have expect on the Camino del Norte in August?

I appreciate that some of my questions might have been answered in threads which I have not yet found. I'll be happy about links to those too.

 

[AJ]

I plan to walk the Camino del Norte from West to East, starting mid / late July 2015.

My questions:
- Is the path marked for pilgrims who walk in the "wrong" direction? Do I need a good map?
- Are there long stretches where no food and drink is available?
- What are the average and maximum distances between refugios or other forms of accommodation? I am an oldie and don't manage to walk more than 25km per day (less if the track is tough). Might I find places where I can sleep rough but am protected from rain?
- I understand that on the Camino del Norte I won't experience the sort of heat that one often finds on the Camino Frances. What kind of rainfall do I have expect on the Camino del Norte in August?

I appreciate that some of my questions might have been answered in threads which I have not yet found. I'll be happy about links to those too.

I did this in August 2012. The waymarking was poor and I found myself walking the main road a lot of the time and so a map was useful. It was also very busy and albergues filled quickly. There was little sense of camaraderie despite the large number of pilgrims, I suppose because I was the weird guy going the wrong way and people would not see me again.

 

[jpflavin1]

I plan to walk the Camino del Norte from West to East, starting mid / late July 2015.

My questions:
- Is the path marked for pilgrims who walk in the "wrong" direction? Do I need a good map?
- Are there long stretches where no food and drink is available?
- What are the average and maximum distances between refugios or other forms of accommodation? I am an oldie and don't manage to walk more than 25km per day (less if the track is tough). Might I find places where I can sleep rough but am protected from rain?
- I understand that on the Camino del Norte I won't experience the sort of heat that one often finds on the Camino Frances. What kind of rainfall do I have expect on the Camino del Norte in August?

I appreciate that some of my questions might have been answered in threads which I have not yet found. I'll be happy about links to those too.

Walter1407:

I ran into a young German girl walking West to East this past year. I would suggest using a good map or guide book. She did say it was a bit confusing at several points along the way.

I am not sure what you consider to be long distances. There are places for food and drink relatively frequently. Most often within 10 km's. There are a few long stretches but none farther than 25 km's. While I walked daily distances greater than 25 km's, I do not recall having to walk further than that between shelters.

No one can predict the weather, I would look at annual averages and plan accordingly.

Hope this is helpful?

Ultreya,
Joe

 

[Tia Valeria]

If you get the CSJ guides you can see the distances and places to stay and with a map should be able to reverse your walk as you reverse their directions. CSJ guides are quite detailed and give more than just albergues in many places.

 

[Walter1407]

Thanks a lot for the feedback!
I think I'll do the Camino del Norte the "normal" way after all, from East to West.
Which route I'll take to walk back I'll decide when I am in Santiago. I would probably like to take the Camino Frances, but I am wondering whether there might be (too) many pilgrims who'll stop me to enquire what I am doing (I expect to be do this part in August). When I walked the Camino Frances to Santiago 12 years ago, I never met anyone walking in the opposite direction.
I will probably use the Rother guide books in German, with some additional maps which I'll probably just print out from the net:
http://www.jakobsweg.ch/index.php/en/eu/es/jakobswege-en-US/camino-del-norte-b/
I find this website very useful for information on routes and profiles, for routes in many countries.

 

[jpflavin1]

Walter1407:

The Frances is probably the easiest route to walk West to East. IMO, because of the frequent marking and constant stream of Pilgrims going the other way.

You will have new friends daily. You could walk the Frances west to east up to Leon and then walk the San Salvador up to Oviedo. The weather should also be a little better in May.

Ultreya,
Joe

 

[shefollowsshells]

I've met three people walking backwards (not including returning to Santiago from the coast that number increases) .
Two on the Frances, one on the Norte.
I think one would really need to consider all of the people joking "hey you're going the wrong way"...and constantly being asked why or explaining the reason.
I could see that it would be a great way to really be with self if that is the goal BUT I know for myself I could not have these same questions asked and answered a hundred times
a day...something to consider if you think that might bother you. The gal I saw on the Norte looked as happy as could be though

 

[angulero]

Por aquí se ve peregrinos que hacen el camino de vuelta, pero todos acaban haciéndolo por carretera, ya que no es fácil saber cual es la dirección correcta en los cruces. Todos los que recuerdo haber visto, lo hacían por carretera.

Over here pilgrims on the way back is, but everybody just doing road as it is not easy to know which is the right direction at intersections. All I remember seeing, they did so by road.

 

[peregrina2000]

I think I remember that there are parts of the Camino del Norte marked for those walking "backwards" -- those blue spirals with the arrow on the end? In any event, it's probably more difficult to walk backwards than many people think. For the most part, the Caminos are not marked like the French GRs, which clearly indicate the route for people going in either direction. Like Joe says, walking the Frances backwards wouldn't be so hard at most times of year because you can always count on a bunch of people coming towards you to show you the way -- you just go where they've come from.

For other caminos, though, you don't have that steady stream, and it's probably like Angulero says, that if you walk backwards, you will wind up on the road. That might not bother some of you, because they are frequently going to be untravelled country roads, but the asphalt would kill my feet. The Norte has enough asphalt without adding to it unnecessarily! Buen camino, Laurie