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El salvador October 2014

sulu

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
a few since 2010
Tomorrow I start the El Salvador. Today I am in Leon, the Albergue has changed since I was last here, if anything I think the beds are closer together but they do have pillows. The weather today is perfect for walking, I just hope it stays that way. I'm not technical so I will post and blog when I can.
Sue
 
Very light, comfortable and compressible poncho. Specially designed for protection against water for any activity.

Our Atmospheric H30 poncho offers lightness and waterproofness. Easily compressible and made with our Waterproof fabric, its heat-sealed interior seams guarantee its waterproofness. Includes carrying bag.

€60,-
buen camino, Sue. The forecast is clear/partly cloudy right through the next few days. Get in touch if you run into trouble, and be careful out there! (You're in for a treat!)
 
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

€149,-
My favourite day was from Poladurs de la Tercia to Pajares, absolutely brilliant! Do take care after the Puerto though. I hope you have good weather as it would be a shame if you miss the spectacular views throughout. Enjoy and keep safe.
 
I'm home today, having done the Salvador and the Primitivo. The Salvador was wonderful, though I had 1 day of rain. Puerto to Pajares was mud, mud and slippery grass. I'll post a bit more and update my blog when I get my head together but I am so pleased that I have done them both.
 
OK, my thoughts on how it went!
Day 1.Leaving Leon the arrows go along the road though there are tracks along by the river, they looked much more appealing but I daren't leave the arrows in case I missed something. I thought I was going to be alone but eventually I met up with a young British couple and a Spanish guy, we all got on well so it was great. We stayed in the municipal in La Robla.
Day 2 Some kind soul has left a handleless coffee maker, coffee and milk so we were able to have coffee before leaving, without having to back track to the town. I had had serious misgivings about today. My only reason for doing the El Salvador now was that next year I may find I'm too old to do the climb, then I panicked and decided that I can't do it now and had opted to take the alternative. Fortunately I saw a guide in La Robla that seemed to indicate that the alternative still went up to Poladura, I think this was wrong but it gave me the impetus I needed.
The climb was tough but not as tough as I expected, when I got to the point that I was nearly on my knees I stopped, took my boots off for 5 minutes and had a handful of fruit and nuts. When I started again I found I had actually finished the worst of the climb, it still went up but more gently. I was glad that I was not alone, Pepe was behind me and I trusted that the others would send out a search party if I failed to materialise:) The views are spectacular and it was so worth while.
Day 3 It was raining, this was Poladura to Pajares, so no views today. The walk to Puerto de Pajares was lovely, despite the rain, which was just drizzle really. Puerto de Pajares to Pajares was a killer, 2 steep descents down slippery grassy slopes, I felt that a toboggan would have been useful, and a very slow walk through a wood which should have been pretty but it was soooooooo muddy. I slipped and the mud went over the top of my boot, I almost sat down, that would have been awful. It was only 5 kms but took ages.
Day 4.Pajares to Pola de Lena. A lovely day and a pleasant walk. at Puente de los Fierros I opted for the deviation along the road as I really didn't fancy another steep descent, I passed 2 ruined 'hospitales' so I felt I was on a legitimate pilgrim route. The others said that the descent was awful.
Day 5 Pola de Lena to Oviedo. The walk to Mieres was fine, looking at other posts about the walk out of Pola I'm trying to recollect the early part of it but the new signs must be effective. It was Mieres to Oviedo that was a killer, so many ups and downs. We had been joined by a young Polish lad, he missed the turn in Mieres and somehow ended up on the Motorway where he was picked up by the police and 'escorted' to Oviedo. He said they were very friendly but they wouldn't let him out.
All in all this was a wonderful camino. I reckon that the Catalan is harder as it is longer, so more steep climbs and horrible descents.
 
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Very light, comfortable and compressible poncho. Specially designed for protection against water for any activity.

Our Atmospheric H30 poncho offers lightness and waterproofness. Easily compressible and made with our Waterproof fabric, its heat-sealed interior seams guarantee its waterproofness. Includes carrying bag.

€60,-
Sulu, so glad you were able to walk this Camino. I share the same aging anxiety, wondering every year if I'll be able to continue on a Camino next year. My husband thinks it's just a devious method to make the case that I have to go back to the camino every year, since you never know, this one may be my last :)

I really want to walk the Catalan but just can't take enough time in 2015 so I hope my knees and creaky body will hang on a few more years! Buen camino, Laurie
 
Sulu, so glad you were able to walk this Camino. I share the same aging anxiety, wondering every year if I'll be able to continue on a Camino next year. My husband thinks it's just a devious method to make the case that I have to go back to the camino every year, since you never know, this one may be my last :)

I really want to walk the Catalan but just can't take enough time in 2015 so I hope my knees and creaky body will hang on a few more years! Buen camino, Laurie
Laurie, it's not just my knees and hips but my mind, I so easily get put off doing things by fear. I almost, almost didn't do the best bit of this walk simply because there was an 'easier' alternative, but, lets face it, no camino is easy. Lets hope we continue to stay young and still have lots of years for doing caminos. For me, next year should be the Levante and the Madrid and finish the Invierno. Hopefully :)
Sue
 
Laurie, it's not just my knees and hips but my mind, I so easily get put off doing things by fear. I almost, almost didn't do the best bit of this walk simply because there was an 'easier' alternative, but, lets face it, no camino is easy. Lets hope we continue to stay young and still have lots of years for doing caminos. For me, next year should be the Levante and the Madrid and finish the Invierno. Hopefully :)
Sue

Sue:

Great job. I loved this Camino (San Salvador) and can not wait to do again sometime in the future and hopefully better conditions. I think this is a great walk for folks who only have a week to walk. It even has it's own credential and certificate.

Ultreya,
Joe
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
We did this in September 2014. Our stages were Cabanillas, La Robla, Buiza, Poladura de la tercia (La Posada), Pajares, Pola de Lena, Mieres, Oviedo. The contact phone numbers are obviously displayed at the albergues, but we had found that cellphone reception in valleys was intermittent at best (Miriam had a Lebara SIM and I had a Vodafone Es SIM) so we asked the helpful people in the ayunamento office in Pola de Gordon to ring ahead to Poladura so we were assured of dinner. We collected all the correct contact names, numbers and addresses and gave them to Paloma at Pola de Lena so she now has an accurate set. There were microwaves at Cabanillas, La Robla, Buiza, Mieres and Oviedo albergues. There were no cooking facilities at Pajares or Pola de Lena. We relied on our trusty 750ml microwave safe cup to boil water when required. Lovely route and we were blessed with good visibility and relatively dry underfoot on all the off-road sections.
 

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