Kiwi wanting to walk the Camino in Dec 2020

[Fantail65]

Hi,
I’m a 54 year old Southland Kiwi womem wanting to walk the Camino during our school holidays ie their winter. I used to do a lot of tramping, including the Milford in my late 30s, but am certainly not fit at the moment so would love advice on:
Weather on the trail during Dec/Jan, in particular the Pyrenees
Advice gear wise to go with the above
Any other tips, tricks etc
Anyone who is interested in doing/ training with me for the trail.

Ta in advance
Helen

 

[VNwalking]

Welcome to the Forum, Piwakawaka!
It will be winter. So be prepared for that.
Because of any number of reasons, many of us go untrained and 'unprepared;' unless you have medical issues, that will likely be OK. Just take the first week slowly and use it for on-the-ground training.

As far as information is concerned, one thing you could start with is to do a search for winter walking, because there are a lot of threads out there with the kind of information you're looking for. Just click on search in the upper right-hand corner of the menu bar.
And then if you have more specific questions, ask away - there is a lot of communal knowledge here (and - warning - no shortage of opinion ).
Buen camino, peregrina. It has begun.

 

[hel&scott]

Hi Helen,
As a 56yr old Kiwi I can assure you that your Camino aims are do able. We usually go in Autumn and the winter Camino we did, the Portugeses in Nov/Dec, was wet and muddy. The French route has more accomodation options and you can more easily adjust your stages for the weather. It snows on the Pyrenees but there is good info on the state of the pass and you can always start in Pamploma or further on. Oddly enough we gave up tramping in NZ as we got older mainly due to the weather, and found walking in Europe had better services, such as bars with hot coffee to keep you going.
All the best with your walk
Hel

 

[Fantail65]

Hi Helen,
As a 56yr old Kiwi I can assure you that your Camino aims are do able. We usually go in Autumn and the winter Camino we did, the Portugeses in Nov/Dec, was wet and muddy. The French route has more accomodation options and you can more easily adjust your stages for the weather. It snows on the Pyrenees but there is good info on the state of the pass and you can always start in Pamploma or further on. Oddly enough we gave up tramping in NZ as we got older mainly due to the weather, and found walking in Europe had better services, such as bars with hot coffee to keep you going.
All the best with your walk
Hel

Lol yes I’ve yet to see a bar or hot coffe on any tramps here. Thanks for the encouragement and info. I figure if I could manage the Milford, two days of which had a storm which wiped out parts of the track and it was more like climbing than walking, I could manage this. It’s more a what to pack- I don’t want to take anything I have to carry if I don’t want to carry it ie sounds like most of the trail is trail not track if you know what I mean ?

 

[Fantail65]

Welcome to the Forum, Piwakawaka!
It will be winter. So be prepared for that.
Because of any number of reasons, many of us go untrained and 'unprepared;' unless you have medical issues, that will likely be OK. Just take the first week slowly and use it for on-the-ground training.

As far as information is concerned, one thing you could start with is to do a search for winter walking, because there are a lot of threads out there with the kind of information you're looking for. Just click on search in the upper right-hand corner of the menu bar.
And then if you have more specific questions, ask away - there is a lot of communal knowledge here (and - warning - no shortage of opinion ).
Buen camino, peregrina. It has begun.

Thanks Lvar - Perhaps it should be “It has..........” rather than It has begun.

 

[VNwalking]

Perhaps it should be “It has..........” rather than It has begun.

Haha.
Well, what I said actually wasn't a mistake. Your camino has begun, whether it feels that way or not.

 

[Fantail65]

I bow to greater experience and apologise for the typo in your name. Onward and upward as they say.

 

[VNwalking]

May it be a good one~
Buen camino, @Fantail65 !

 

[Gumba]

Hello! We are doing the trip this December and January.. A lovely member here - jl walked the same time frame a few years back - this is her blog: http://mywintercamino.blogspot.com I am sure you will find it an interesting read. There are a few others too.

This website, although down until November will provide you will a list of accommodation - it is updated daily. http://www.aprinca.com/alberguesinvierno/


Happy planning

 

[Fantail65]

Kapai Thank you so much! I think I’m thinking too NZ mountains. Must look at some docos if I can find them.

 

[Kiwi-family]

I’ve done a few routes now and have yet to find anything that approximates our tramping tracks. Think trails and lanes. Neither is better - just different.
BTW, when you get to Europe you might find it useful to favour the word hiking rather than tramping.

 

[Fantail65]

Lol. True. The the other homographic meanings might lead to some uncomfortable misunderstandings. Nice to know walking wise it sounds more like Dunedin day hikes. Thank you for the info. ))