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Footwear for St Olav's

cher99840

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
2013, 2017 Camino Frances SJPP-Santiago
2015 St. Olav's Way Oslo-Trondheim
2017 VdlP Seville-Merida
I'm wondering if I should wear the same type of footwear on St Olav's as I would wear on the Frances, or if I need something sturdier.
 
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Hi @cher99840 - I just asked that same question over on the St Olav forum but it's not very active yet, please tell us what you ended up wearing and if it worked! I am thinking leather boots for total waterproofness (I don't believe in goretex) and a pair of sturdy trail sandals. Would that be a good combo?
 
I have just walked the Sundsvall to Trondheim Olavsleden. Although much was on good roads there was also a lot of deep mud and snow. I was very glad to be wearing leather boots. I certainly would not want to walk that route in sandals as many do on the Camino Frances. I do not know how it compares with the Olav routes from Oslo and the south.
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
@Bradypus Thank you for your comment, that makes sense. Even in summer it can be very wet and boggy off road so I am hoping leather boots will do it. For asphalt/tarmac walking I might switch to sandals (with socks, naturally - it is considered camino chic) to air my feet as much as possible. I tend to get blisters very easily, especially pressure blisters around the heel, so variation will hopefully help. I am thinking of Teva Terra Fi 4, which is pretty sturdy and not a dainty sandal. Or a pair of Salomon trail runners, maybe? Sandals are less bulky though ...
 
@nidarosa I am afraid I won't be much help because I am a goretex person. I did wear Merrell Moabs on the St Olav just as I did on the Frances. I also took my Keen Sandals but wore them mostly in the evenings. On very rainy days I wore the sandals on pavement. I would be afraid of sandals in the forest trails because the trails are really not very well maintained and one doesn't always know where one's foot is. Most of my fellow walkers switched between boots and trainers. In the marshy areas my boots got VERY wet but the good news is that most lodging places have some kind of dryers or drying rooms that I had never even seen before going to Norway. Also people along the way were very generous with newspaper. After all this rambling, I'm thinking that if you are comfortable in your leather boots, why not!? Your comfort and foot protection are what is important and if your boots fulfill those requirements, sounds good to me!!!
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Thanks, @cher99840! I have never yet had goretex that didn't fail spectacularly at exactly the least convenient moment, so I will stretch to a goretex lined leather boot and no further :D It's that or just accept that feet will be wet and change to something that is quick drying when the rain starts or you get to a boggy bit. I have never done much walking in Norway but in my youth we were all sent out into hills and forests in leather boots so I suppose that just appeals to me. It's the backup that is the main conundrum really - @dougfitz used lightweight amphibian trainer type shoes which I like the look of, and I do love my Teva sandals, but now that you mention switching between boots and trainers I have to mull that one over. Trainers are bulkier though and I will be carrying my backpack so weight is a consideration. Luckily I have lots of time to try different things!
 
Hi, Nidarosa. I walked from Hjerkinn to Trondheim last August.

I wore these:

3090797-p-4x.jpg


Salewa Wildfire Vent.

Some people told me that these shoes aren't good for this trail due to the water on many stretches of the path. And sometimes i thought it was true because the mountain sides were extremly wet.

Until a couple of times when i had to cross flooded fields where my feet got covered in water up to the calfs. Then i was happy to wear these shoes. Yes, the water goes in but then the water goes easily out, and the shoes get quickly dried while walking.

Waterproof boots get also soaked in swampy areas but water stands inside unless you take them off and even then they will keep on being wetness.

But this is just a personal choice.
 
@Pabloke , thanks for your input. I was recently in the Lake District which was hot, sunny and dry, and still my map reading friend managed to find the only bit of bog available and we both got wet feet. I love my Salomon X Ultra (non goretex) for most of the sort of terrain I am expecting to find on the St Olav Way, but I can't risk having wet feet as I blister very easily. I am still waiting for the Lake District ones to heal now and my shoes dry really quickly but not my socks, or both of them, quickly enough. Good to know bogs and general wet gound is less of a problem on the last stretch though. I have a plan to wear sandals if I know I have to get wet, and then just dry my feet and put dry socks and shoes again after the fact. Or even try amphibian trainer type shoes. Food for thought and a long, lovely time to plan and ponder!
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
I have a plan to wear sandals if I know I have to get wet, and then just dry my feet and put dry socks and shoes again after the fact. Or even try amphibian trainer type shoes. Food for thought and a long, lovely time to plan and ponder!

That sounds like a good idea.

Though i must admit that i didn't realise the truth of these fields till i put my feet 'inside'. From the distance they looked like gentle meadows.

Now i also remember these other 'tricking fields' which looked like covered by a light white fog but actually were covered by thousands of spider webs.

Or that evening, over the Dovrefjell, when i tried to pitch my tent and there was no ground, just plants :). I guess that's tundra.

An amazing trek that i really enjoyed. I hope to walk the entire path from Oslo. Sooner than late.
 
@Pabloke You camped? That's interesting. Possibly something to discuss in a different thread? Or do you have a blog or some such where we can find out more? We are hoping to get mostly rooms, cabins etc rather than bring tents, though the jury is still very far out on this. Was thinking bivvy bag as a precaution, and a poncho that can be put up as a bit of shelter. We are walking in mid summer though and it might be nice to sleep under the sun and stars now and again?
 
Reading about this pilgrimage i discovered that free camping is allowed in Norway so i searched for a light tent since accommodation prices are a bit high. My tent just weighed 1 kilo.

Sleeping under the stars can be hard on the mountains, even in summer the nights are cold. The first night i pitched my tent, on the Dovrefjell before the Ryphusan's refuge, i didn't sleep at all, it was cold and there was a high humidity in the air. The tent got wet inside and i didn't want to use my sleeping bad as it could get wet aswell. I just used the tent one more time, before Skaun.

At camping places i got cabins. I should have used the tent but... cabins were so cute... :p

I remember the weather was hot in those places at the sea level but cold and wet (not rainy, though) on the mountains. Some locals told me that that was a wet August, maybe this year will be different. I just walked under the rain one day, and it was light rain, near Rennebu.

Are you going to walk from Oslo? Perhaps you can sleep under the stars before reaching the Dovre mountains but over them you will need a tent, a good and waterproof one.

Anyway, you'll enjoy it. You'll see.

PS: Sorry, i don't have a blog.
 
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,-
@Pabloke : Thanks, that's good info! We are walking in late May-June so should be fairly warm and dry, and I do have a decent tent at just over a kilo (double walled) but I was hoping I'd get away with my bivvy if it wasn't too humid. Anyway I feel another thread coming on about this, possibly over at the dedicated St Olav forum ...
 
I haven't an account on the other forum. Past year I created one but some days later it was deleted.

Anyway, I will pay attention if you open a thread.
 
I shall have to keep pestering you on this one then! :D I hope you don't mind. Your input and experience is gratefully received.
 
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