Is There Anybody Out There?

[Shauna]

I just wondered if there was anyone on the Primitivo at the moment and if so, do they have time to provide an update.

We go out to Oviedo on 6 June and I was wondering what the weather was like at the moment, particularly higher up. Just trying to decide what to pack, well as little as possible really. Will probably take my poncho and fleece certainly.

Getting excited now albeit a bit nervous.

What's the accommodation situation like at the moment? I have booked some private places but have 3 days when going to stay in albergues.

 

[HighlandsHiker]

I just wondered if there was anyone on the Primitivo at the moment and if so, do they have time to provide an update.

We go out to Oviedo on 6 June and I was wondering what the weather was like at the moment, particularly higher up. Just trying to decide what to pack, well as little as possible really. Will probably take my poncho and fleece certainly.

Getting excited now albeit a bit nervous.

What's the accommodation situation like at the moment? I have booked some private places but have 3 days when going to stay in albergues.

Shauna, if you search Alaskadiver and click on her name once you get to her profile, she has a link to her blog - musingsfromthelastfrontier. She's an experienced wilderness hiker and has some good information about her experience on the Primitivo. She's just finishing up and had some foot trouble, but was prepared and is taking a couple of rest days in Lugo, I think. Are you thinking about posting how you're doing? I had to revise plans and won't be doing the Norte this time, but will be getting to Oviedo on the 9th, and heading out on the 10th, about 4 days behind you. Not long now!

 

[Sally Forester]

2nd day for me on the Primitivo. Hot as #%^*!
Albergues fill but by 5pm. It's tough but I am living being in the mountains!!

 

[G_the_D]

The thread title just got Pink Floyd going through my noggin.....

 

[NualaOC]

The thread title just got Pink Floyd going through my noggin.....

And now I'm humming it too

 

[intrepidtraveler]

2nd day for me on the Primitivo. Hot as #%^*!
Albergues fill but by 5pm. It's tough but I am living being in the mountains!!

Sally - how was the alberque situation for you on the Norte from Laredo onwards?

It's starting to get busy earlier on and I'm hoping this situation won't continue.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

 

[Shauna]

Any more news from the Primitivo, in particular weather and bed situation?

 

[HighlandsHiker]

Any more news from the Primitivo, in particular weather and bed situation?

I'm interested to know the same, and hoping to hear a mud report. I just ruined my long gaiters trying to turn them into short ones.

 

[Shauna]

What do you mean by mud report, I am hoping there is none!!

 

[HighlandsHiker]

What do you mean by mud report, I am hoping there is none!!

Hahaha, Shauna! Surely there won't be any at all. And if there is, we'll just slide to Santiago

 

[Tincatinker]

Plenty of mud between Salas and Campiello (well, I keep telling myself it was mud) but nothing to deep and navigable with the usual peregrino twinkle toes. Hot afternoons, start early. No problems with beds so far even with late finishes. Celia at El Texu in La Espina has plenty of info to go with her enthusiasm. Have been kidnapped by Herminia and being forced to drink beer in the shade. Buen Caminos a todos.

 

[HighlandsHiker]

Plenty of mud between Salas and Campiello (well, I keep telling myself it was mud) but nothing to deep and navigable with the usual peregrino twinkle toes. Hot afternoons, start early. No problems with beds so far even with late finishes. Celia at El Texu in La Espina has plenty of info to go with her enthusiasm. Have been kidnapped by Herminia and being forced to drink beer in the shade. Buen Caminos a todos.

Thanks so much for the possibly-mud report, Tinkatinker! Also thanks for the reassurance about the bed situation.

So sorry to hear about your being kidnapped and forced to drink beer in the shade! I hope you can endure and that you'll survive to tell stories of your next adventures on the Primitivo

 

[alaskadiver]

There is a lot of mud between Tineo and Salas. Deep mud with cow poo. Walking sticks came In handy to navigate between the less muddy area and the barbed wire fences
Only used my light puffy jacket once, over the Hospitales. Never used it again. Way too hot. I only took a rain skirt and a rain jacket. Used the skirt one day and the jacket once or twice. Ponchos are saunas in this weather. We walked with no rain gear. My husband even did the Hospitales in shorts and short sleeve shirt.
It was better to just get wet. It cools you off and the temperature is not low enough to make you hypothermic. If you insist in taking a fleece you will use once and then mail to Santiago along with whatever cold weather gear you packed
The forecast is for June temps to continue higher than normal with rain more than usual. Hopefully you will get some rain and be able to cool off.
We were leaving the albergue at 5:30 to avoid the heat and by 1130 it was already very hot. Remember that high noon isn't until 3pm in Spain so the temps will continue to get higher as the day progresses.
No problem with beds but it was getting tight as we hit the Frances. I reserved all 4 of the last nights to ensure we had a place since the heat was making us walk slow.
Make sure you have the ability to carry 3 liters of water. The fountains and bars after the first day are rare. Everything is closed on Sundays and many places on Monday. Thank God for the old lady sitting on her porch offering water to us one day. We were almost out and were planning to refill at the restaurant in the little town. Turns out they were closed in Mondays. We asked for water from a couple working on their house on another day. We had tablets to purify water and would have taken some form a river we passed but we were able to avoid it.
Read my entries in the live from the Camino thread and look at my blog. I blogged the first couple of days and then had to stop publishing because the internet connection was so slow after that I could not upload. But I was able to keep posting the important parts on third forum.
Pack as little as possible. The terrain is steep and the road walking is hard on the feet, especially for people wearing sneakers and hiking shoes. The Primitivo is not a walk. It's a hike through remote areas where services are few and a command of the Spanish language saved my bacon numerous times.
Stay away from coffee and drink water! Hydrate!

 

[alaskadiver]

One more thing. The Wise Pilgrim app is accurate about water sources. There's one place where the fountain is behind someone's house and nobody I know ever saw it . But it gives you an idea of the lack of water.
Wikiloc app lets you use the GPS on your phone (in plane mode so you don't need data) to track how many kilometers you've walked. It was crucial in knowing where exactly were we were in real time. You'll need to make decisions on weather or not to continue the next 10 or 15 km or stay put.
You can also download the google maps for the whole area and view it offline when in doubt.

 

[Shauna]

Wow thank you for the info. Was not sure what you meant by third forum though?

 

[HighlandsHiker]

Thanks again, Irene! Hope you're relaxing and looking forward to your kayaking time and that your plantar fasciitis is calming down.

I was raised in a river valley in the south and am happiest when the weather is hot and swampy, but I hear you about the 3L water and the "hike rather than walk" part. And the Sunday and Monday part. And the rest of what sounds like it will be a challenging hike.

I live in the mountains now and am finding it easier to leave the poles at home, but will be bringing them on the trip if the baggage handlers don't break the clasps and lose pieces of this new pair in transit again. I did get water purification tabs and learned how to use them in case have to use any creek water. Got a quilted puff vest at the thrift store that will recycle. Have maps.me and Wikiloc, but they really seem to be battery drains - will try to use them sparingly. Have WisePilgrim apps too, but am really hoping to find a few pensiones not on the app in hopes of getting some sleep every few nights. Some are booked for my dates. On the input from you and Anemone, am doing a bus-ahead between O Cadavo and Lugo, as it seems as if there would be nothing big missed by doing so, and am then planning to walk to Friol and Sobrado dos Monxes, then taking the 07:15 bus to Santiago, and then going down to Oporto to have a look around and fly back to JFK. I'm looking at this as partial-preparation for doing some section hiking on the AT. The Spanish is slowly getting a little better, but I surely wish I had your facility with the language. Peace.

 

[alaskadiver]

Thanks again, Irene! Hope you're relaxing and looking forward to your kayaking time and that your plantar fasciitis is calming down.

I was raised in a river valley in the south and am happiest when the weather is hot and swampy, but I hear you about the 3L water and the "hike rather than walk" part. And the Sunday and Monday part. And the rest of what sounds like it will be a challenging hike.

I live in the mountains now and am finding it easier to leave the poles at home, but will be bringing them on the trip if the baggage handlers don't break the clasps and lose pieces of this new pair again in transit. I did get water purification tabs and learned how to use them in case have to use any creek water. Got a quilted puff vest at the thrift store that will recycle. Have maps.me and Wikiloc, but they really seem to be battery drains - will try to use them sparingly. Have WisePilgrim apps too, but am really hoping to find a few pensiones not on the app in hopes of getting some sleep every few nights. Some are booked for my dates. On the input from you and Anemone, am doing a bus-ahead between O Cadavo and Lugo, as it seems as if there would be nothing big missed by doing so, and am then planning to walk to Friol and Sobrado dos Monxes, heading to Santiago for a day on a bus, and then going down to Oporto to have a look around and fly back to JFK. I'm looking at this as partial-preparation for doing some section hiking on the AT. The Spanish is slowly getting a little better, but I surely wish I had your facility with the language. Peace.

Sounds like a good plan to me. I left my phone on airplane mode when using wikiloc and google maps. I have an iPhone 7 Plus and after 8-9 hrs of use my phone wasn't even to 50%. There is almost no cell coverage so turning that off saves battery life because it keeps the phone from trying to ping towers.
We stayed in a couple of pensiones and really liked the quiet. I think I named them in my thread.
Buen Camino!