LIVE from the Camino Counting pilgrims on the Norte AGAIN

[Umwandert]

Last May I walked the first part of the Norte in the opposite direction, from Santander to Irun. Since I only had two weeks and couldn't reach Santiago anyway, I wanted to swim against the tide, especially since the most beautiful stages were between Bilbao and Irun, which I enjoyed a lot at the end of my reverse camino.

The disadvantage: no in-depth social encounters because I never met anyone again. The advantage: I had the camino to myself in the mornings and evenings; I met most pilgrims around lunchtime. And I enjoyed counting the pilgrims, mostly, but not always, in silence ("Hello, you're my number 115" – "Oh, that's a nice number"). In the end, there were 882 pilgrims in total.

Now I'm returning to the Norte as a pilgrim version of my favorite Sesame Street character, Count von Count (unfortunately without the cape and thunder). I start next week, on April 30 directly at Asturias airport, from there it's only a few hundred meters to the camino. In about two weeks I'll be walking comfortably east to Santander. I will post my progress and pilgrimage numbers here. I think this might be a good indication of how busy the Norte is at the moment.

So if any of you are walking the Norte in Cantabria or Asturias in the first half of May, keep your eyes peeled. If you see a very tall pilgrim dressed all in olive green, you are being counted! Feel free to say hello to me. Last year, for example, I had the great honor of counting forum mod @trecile between Markina and Bolibar.

 

[Luka]

You might happen to count me as a pilgrim, while I am not. I will be walking the Sanabrés half May and am having most of my training walks on (parts of) the Norte. However I prefer to avoid the Norte's asphalt where I can.

To add my grain of salt: I stayed in albergue La Xana in La Caridad on Saturday night and we were 8 in the albergue. Both walking days I met about 5/6 pilgrims on the road (walking in the same direction as I did, that is).

Buen Camino!

 

[trecile]

Last year, for example, I had the great honor of counting forum mod @trecile between Markina and Bolibar.

I loved watching for you and meeting you last year!

 

[JerryStroebele]

At the end of October and the end of our Camino Aragonés my French son in law and I walked the Camino Frances backwards from Obános to Saint Jean Pied-de-Port. Several helpful local people pointed out that we were going the wrong way. Some oncoming people were baffled. Our daily pilgrim count changed from 5 or 6 on a big day on the Aragonés to well over a hundred on the Frances. Buen Casino

 

[Umwandert]

You might happen to count me as a pilgrim, while I am not. I will be walking the Sanabrés half May and am having most of my training walks on (parts of) the Norte. However I prefer to avoid the Norte's asphalt where I can.

Hi Luka, are you walking with a full bagpack for training? Then you certainly will be counted! I will try to walk all the coastal alternatives of the Norte in reverse too, which might be challenging. I use Buen Camino App and thankfully some of them are included there.

I loved watching for you and meeting you last year!

It was an honor and a pleasure! My first non-virtual contact with a forum member.

At the end of October and the end of our Camino Aragonés my French son in law and I walked the Camino Frances backwards from Obános to Saint Jean Pied-de-Port. Several helpful local people pointed out that we were going the wrong way. Some oncoming people were baffled.

So far that had not happened to me. And I have walked Muxia-Finisterre-Santiago (which technically is not a reverse camino), the first part of the Norte (Irun-Santander) and the Camino Estrecho (Algeciras-Puerto Real) in reverse. But I was asked other things by pilgrims. If I may quote myself from my first post about reverse walking:

(...) That means in the last 4 days of my camino 675 pilgrims came towards me! No wonder I felt like a bobblehead, constantly greeting people. On my last two days I met pilgrims almost every few minutes. I also encountered huge groups, for example I passed around 80 portuguese-speaking pilgrims at a parking lot close to A Zas. They just got their briefing by a guide.

Of course I always said hello and buen camino. Once I was chatting near Mount Aro with an American, who asked me about Olveiroa. I told him what I knew and added “You are my number 125 of the day”. He said he liked that number. But at the end I got tired by the huge number of encounters and then just smiled and raised my hand for a greeting. I have learned that a reverse pilgrim can be very beneficial for those who walk in the other direction. I answered questions about topography (“How many climbs tills Muxia?”) or upcoming services (“How far away is the nearest bar?”). When I walked on my last day I came upon a group of Brazilians. A girl stopped and asked me for help. She had accidentally taken her room key from a hotel in Negreira. Of course I offered her to return her key (after all the hotel was right on the camino).

I am excited to see what will happen on my next reverse camino, which will start next week!

 

[lagalag]

Hello, cycling the Camino del Norte at this very moment. I'm with my son who's 18 years old and started our journey in Hendaye. We are now in Santander and reading your post while charting our best way to Santimlana del Mar and figuring out if our favorite albergue there is open this off season. Yes, we've done this part twice before when we are still a family of 4, two young boys of 10 and 13 the last time we did it. (Plus a dog).
Last year, we lost our eldest at the ripe age of 21. Weeks before he left us, he told me he would like to do another camino with me and his brother. Now, we hope to make it to Campostela on the anniversary of his passing to realise his wish. We know he's with us all along the way.

 

[Luka]

Hi Luka, are you walking with a full bagpack for training? Then you certainly will be counted! I will try to walk all the coastal alternatives of the Norte in reverse too, which might be challenging. I use Buen Camino App and thankfully some of them are included there.

At the moment yes. Good luck with the alternatives! Wikiloc could be helpful as well.

 

[Chris Aston]

You might happen to count me as a pilgrim, while I am not. I will be walking the Sanabrés half May and am having most of my training walks on (parts of) the Norte. However I prefer to avoid the Norte's asphalt where I can.

To add my grain of salt: I stayed in albergue La Xana in La Caridad on Saturday night and we were 8 in the albergue. Both walking days I met about 5/6 pilgrims on the road (walking in the same direction as I did, that is).

Buen Camino!

I was in the same albergue on Monday 22nd and there were only 6 of us, including myself.

 

[Umwandert]

First day: Now in Aviles

I had imagined it would be so nice, fresh off the plane and straight onto the camino in glorious weather. But when I left Asturias airport at 1pm today, I was greeted by pouring rain. So I had to put on my rain poncho straight away. I covered the half stage to Aviles in just under four hours, taking the alternative route via the really unremarkable seaside resort of Salinas.



The sea was grey and the tide was low. So was my mood. The nice café I knew from my Camino Norte in 2022 was closed for the public. So I had just a gloomy break with an apple and energy bar on the edge of Salinas. The rain never completely stopped, but in the last hour it was at least reduced to a drizzle.

And here is my first count:
Day 1 (30/4): Asturias Airport - Aviles (via Salinas): 6 pilgrims plus 2 reverse pilgrims(!)

Of course, this is not yet very meaningful, because I was walking on the Camino only in the afternoon, when most of the pilgrims had certainly already passed. To my great surprise, in the very first hour, I met two pilgrims who, like me, were also walking eastwards, but who had probably already turned in before Aviles today, as I didn't see them again later. According to them, the weather will stay bad for another three days(!). That will be quite a difficult start...



I'm staying in a small hotel today as I had an online course in the evening. The pilgrim albergues will come later, and I'll report on the number of pilgrims here too. Stay tuned.

 

[Umwandert]

Second Day: Now in Gijon

The weather was much better today! I took my time in the morning because I wanted to get the stamps from the Tourist Information (opens 10am, rather ugly) and the Centro Niermayer (opens 10.30am, wonderful stamp). Luckily the rain had stopped and the sun was shining, at least sometimes. In Aviles, an elderly man with a dog ran after me because he thought I was going in the wrong direction. I then introduced myself as a reverse pilgrim. Today's route first led along the river and then came the first heavy industry facilities.



This stage is often described as the ugliest of the entire Camino Norte and I can see why, as there were kilometres along a busy road sandwiched between the huge ArcelorMittal plant and the highway. The middle section is better and mostly on field and forest paths, before industrial plants await again on the outskirts of Gijon (pictured above). It took me almost 2 hours from the Gijon town sign to the eastern centre of the city.

Count of the day:
Day 2: Aviles - Gijon: 41 pilgrims

I met pilgrim #1 after just 4km, an athletic man in shorts. The first ten pilgrims were all male. The female pilgrims (about a third of today's count) seemed to be more relaxed, I only met them in the afternoon. Most of the pilgrims were hiking alone, there were a few couples and a group of six cheerful French pilgrims. Pilgrim #38 recommended the coastal alternative before Santander, which has also been described here by @peregrina2000. The last pilgrim of the day (#41) was wearing a ski mask with a slit just for the eyes, as if he had just robbed a bank. Left me a bit disturbed.



I'm taking a break tomorrow in Gijon and will report back on Friday. Then I walk to Villaviciosa, and judging by the altitude profile of the stage, it will be very strenuous. Stay tuned.

 

[Umwandert]

Third day: now in Villaviciosa

After a rest day in Gijon, I started early and was ready to go by 8am. But the Buen Camino app, which I rely on as a reverse pilgrim, suddenly didn't work. It always closed again as soon as I clicked on it. I had read about such problems here. I then found a pilgrim's stage on wikiloc, which also included the alternative route (less tarmac!) through Gijon.



The weather was cloudy all day with a few rays of sunshine and light drizzle from time to time. Today's stage is classified by gronze as difficult (level 4 out of 5) due to a large hill in the middle (around 680 metres of ascent of the whole stage). Some of the forest paths were quite muddy. I took breaks every hour this time, the last 8 kilometres in particular dragged on endlessly (3 km extra due to crossing over and under two national motorways). I reached the albergue in Villaviciosa at 4:45pm and got the last bed there (28 places)! Maybe I'll have to make a reservation from now on, because now I'll met also the future Primitivo pilgrims who will leave the Norte from Villaviciosa and walk to Oviedo.

Count of the day:
Day 3: Gijon - Villaviciosa: 59 pilgrims and 2 pilgrim dogs

I met all the pilgrims between 11am and 3.30pm. This time, four of the first five were female, but the gender ratio was balanced today. Pilgrim #2 had a dog with her, as did the last pilgrim #59. I met pilgrim #41 at the highest point of the route after around 18 kilometres. I saw most of them together at the El Curbiellu bar, which is just before the big climb (from my point of view). I arrived at noon and a dozen thirsty pilgrims were already waiting for the bar to open. According to the impression of some German pilgrims, the Norte seems quite busy these days.



Tomorrow I will head to the coast. Colunga (17 km) seems a bit too close for me, let's see where I end up. I expect the number of pilgrims to increase. Stay tuned.

 

[Vacajoe]

You had better get ready because I’m near Laredo and the path is very busy!

 

[OldHands]

Thank you so much for reporting the traffic on the Camino del Norte! This is so helpful for those heading there soon!

For tomorrow, apart from Colunga, you have a pretty village of la Isla 21 km from Villaviciosa, although the albergue in La Isla is a Municipal one, and being usually full of pilgrims on budget, I'm not sure if they would be happy to welcome a pilgrim who is neither going to Santiago, nor coming back from Santiago...

On the other hand, the "donativo" albergue in Duesos, 24 km from Villaviciosa would probably welcome you with open arms, I think they get less people lately after a few pilgrims who stayed there left negative reviews about "highly suggested" donation of 20 euros, which, in my opinion, is actually quite low expectation on Camino del the Norte for a bed, communal dinner with wine and basic breakfast.

Duesos on Google Maps (a bit off the Camino) : https://maps.app.goo.gl/6ehyQcjdDmCqa1G79
Photos - Google Maps

 

[Luka]

Wow, 59 pilgrims between Gijón and Villaviciosa is quite a lot, I would say. Considering that the vast majority you met had already walked past the Camino Primitivo junction.

I don't know when on the next stage you plan to head for the coast, but there is a far better alternative to the several kms of road walk between Colunga and La Isla. These are my wikiloc tracks of a circular walk there. Especially the path directly on the cliffs is very recommendable.

La Isla beach - La Griega beach (circular)

Ruta La Isla beach - La Griega beach (circular) de Senderismo en La Isla, Asturias (España). Descarga el track GPS y sigue el recorrido del itinerario del sendero desde un mapa. This is a beautiful walk in a diverse landscape. Through meadows and little villages, past the beach of La Griega, a...

es.wikiloc.com

 

[Umwandert]

Fourth day: Now in Duesos

I'm not a morning person, I need time to warm up to the day. And I first have to get used to albergue accommodation again. The first light came on at 5.55am and the first alarm at 6.10am. When I got up at 7am, I was almost alone in the dormitory. I actually wanted to leave later, but when pilgrims at the breakfast table started singing "Oh happy day" (before 8am!) I decided to leave.



Like the days before, it drizzled almost the whole day, sometimes more, sometimes less. The route looked easy on the elevation profile, but I was already having problems after 8 kilometres. Was it because I hadn't slept well or just had a small, unhealthy breakfast with juice and bizcocho? The fact was, there were a lot of ups and downs today and the small, poisonous climbs were getting to me. It was also a bit annoying having to cross the motorway again and again (six times!). But I had a lot of counting to do:

Count of the day:
Day 4: Villaviciosa - Dueres: 119 pilgrims including two children

The first three pilgrims met me already as I left Villaviciosa (they must have started before sunrise). Pilgrim #15 and pilgrim #64 spoke to me about my existence as a "Peregrino Invertado". The counter in my head jumped from 19 to 45 in two minutes when a large group (possibly organised?) with two children passed me. By 11am I had already reached the total number of pilgrims from the day before. I finally reached Colunga at 2pm and met pilgrim #100 at the entrance to the town, whom I congratulated. Silvain from Canada was happy and we exchanged a few words.



After a long lunch break in Colunga, I called the albergue in Duesos (many thanks to @OldHands for the recommendation) and got a place over the phone. So I probably escaped the presumably party-loving pilgrims on a tight budget in La Isla. And maybe also a discussion whether I can be considered a "real pilgrim". There are only three of us in Duesos today, we had a delicious communal dinner (exactly what @OldHands had pictured: lentil soup, rice, salad, yoghurt, wine and water), I'm sure I'll sleep better tonight.

Tomorrow I was thinking of Piñeres del Pria as my destination, even though my French bed neighbour told me about a particularly grumpy hospitalero there. Vamos a ver. Stay tuned.

 

[Umwandert]

Wow, 59 pilgrims between Gijón and Villaviciosa is quite a lot, I would say. Considering that the vast majority you met had already walked past the Camino Primitivo junction.

I don't know when on the next stage you plan to head for the coast, but there is a far better alternative to the several kms of road walk between Colunga and La Isla. These are my wikiloc tracks of a circular walk there. Especially the path directly on the cliffs is very recommendable.

In fact, I had already met them all before I reached the bifurcation. I'm still wondering where the last pilgrim with a dog was hiking to, as it was practically too late to reach Gijon before sunset.

Thank you, @Luka, for your recommendation. Unfortunately, I was already so exhausted in Colunga that I had no energy left for the beautiful alternative. But I will be aware of further coastal options!

 

[Luka]

You are getting close to where I live now. Unfortunately I can't meet you on the road, as I am preparing my own Camino and I still have lots of things to do...

You could walk all along the cliffs from Ribadesella to Playa de Guadamía (and even a lot further with low tide). It is beautiful, but it will be a lot harder than walking on the asphalt roads of the Camino del Norte.

Another tip: it might not fit in the lenght of your stages, but if you would like a tasty communal dinner, a good breakfast and a bit of conversation with other peregrinos, I can definitely recommend albergue Aves de Paso in Pendueles. But you should make a reservation, because it is almost always full.

 

[OldHands]

It was nice to be helpful, I hope you will rest well at the Duesos albergue!

I am guessing that the comment about grumpy hospitalero is about so called Casa Rectoral on the top of the hill before (looking from your side) Piñeres de Pria, next to the San Pedro church. It is in the middle of nowhere, offers good views if the weather is fine, but if it is raining... not much to do. And I don't think there are any food options there or even close by, unless something changed lately.

My choice for that night would be a tiny town of Nueva, for some reason I like it a lot. It is 26 km from Duesos. There is no albergue there but Pension San Jorge used to give a discount for pilgrims (if you booked directly, not through booking:com). This is a family business, nice people, pilgrim friendly, they have a hotel, pension and a restaurant all named San Jorge. In case if you were planning to get next day to the albergue in Pendueles recommended by Luka, it would be easier to get there from Nueva rather than from Casa Rectoral with its peculiar hospitalero.

Buen Reverse Camino!

 

[Luka]

Last time I walked into Nueva (a couple of weeks ago) San Jorge was still advertising, but it might be wise to give them a call beforehand.