- Time of past OR future Camino
- I´ve got Camino plans until 2042,
- or till I fall flat on my face, whichever comes first !!
I was walking the Camino Catalan very late in the year , via Huesca , starting early November from Montserrat.
Constant warm temperatures of 18 to 20 C through browned autumnal landscapes, with a steady wind from southwest for a full fortnight. No rain, though there were showers during the night, some fields showed signs of sudden bursts of green grass amongst otherwise withered fields. 14 days walking in constant sunshine in short sleeves, not bad at all for a Northener !
Apart from meeting a hospitalero going home to Barcelona, I did not meet a single pilgrim or wanderer on this route, in fact, I had a surprise reaction from a group of locals, when it appeared they had paid my meal. It was a lazy football Sunday and the only open bar that merely served pizzas from the freezer was the treat of the day. Asked how may passed this town since they were so surprised to see me doing the stretch and they said only 20 to 25 in a year!
Signage is exemplary through Catalunya, and scarcer in Aragon. After leaving Arrés, I returned to the road TO Arras, after returning, on the route I discovered the tall signpost had been knocked over and been placed in the bushes in reverse, so some distance lost. In the open after this, signed stones were turned over by the plough, paint chipped off or simply missing.
At this point, my luck was thinning out, as coffee stops and cafés were often closed and tiendas were not existing anymore. The bare fact is that now, after Covid and the general aging of the older population, the working young are drivingng out of their villages in their cars to their workplace, shopping for the elderly and their family and thus there is no longer any basis for the local shop, especially in the small villages on their lonely mountain tops...
So after a particularly long day, bereft of stops, getting lost due to missing signs, I found myself in Artida in a hostel that was sheer bliss to stumble upon, with ready kitchen service, despite being the only walk-in guest. A regular Michelin experience after some days austerity...
- So you really need to be two, to share a back up carrying capacity to compensate for unforeseen and sheer lack of food.
I used Callum Christies guide from 2021,
www.editorialpiolet.com
- which probably explained that no phone numbers were correct anymore and I had to rely on sheer luck to find the people who had the key to the local Albergue. Phone number on the door was more often than not outdated.
Apart from that and probably due to the very late time of the year, I got by and met some very helpful people who helped me out and gave me lifts; in the village Botoya, on the road to San Juan de la Peña, the private Albergue was closed and the local stonemason put me up for the night and cooked me Tortillas, slept under an ancient roof.
This is my first real ´saved just before dark´ moment ever !
Next day everything was closed down due to Monday closing day in both Santa Cruz de la Seros and Santa Cilia...I got a lift out ...
All this closing was also due to the fact that October marks the end of the season, November is really the time off for the locals. Time to see relatives, and then, in December in Aragon there is a new influx of ski tourist for the winter, or so I was told.
So I had really been fortunate to get as far I did, considering the month...
All this marked the sure end of this trail with what I was given at this time of year and when winter and the hard, cold wind from the North started, it was the final of my itinerary this time around, and I bused out from Monreal to Pamplona to nurse an oncoming cold... brass monkey and all that...
I need to do this last part again in a warmer season, but the whole stretch is to be recommended
Constant warm temperatures of 18 to 20 C through browned autumnal landscapes, with a steady wind from southwest for a full fortnight. No rain, though there were showers during the night, some fields showed signs of sudden bursts of green grass amongst otherwise withered fields. 14 days walking in constant sunshine in short sleeves, not bad at all for a Northener !
Apart from meeting a hospitalero going home to Barcelona, I did not meet a single pilgrim or wanderer on this route, in fact, I had a surprise reaction from a group of locals, when it appeared they had paid my meal. It was a lazy football Sunday and the only open bar that merely served pizzas from the freezer was the treat of the day. Asked how may passed this town since they were so surprised to see me doing the stretch and they said only 20 to 25 in a year!
Signage is exemplary through Catalunya, and scarcer in Aragon. After leaving Arrés, I returned to the road TO Arras, after returning, on the route I discovered the tall signpost had been knocked over and been placed in the bushes in reverse, so some distance lost. In the open after this, signed stones were turned over by the plough, paint chipped off or simply missing.
At this point, my luck was thinning out, as coffee stops and cafés were often closed and tiendas were not existing anymore. The bare fact is that now, after Covid and the general aging of the older population, the working young are drivingng out of their villages in their cars to their workplace, shopping for the elderly and their family and thus there is no longer any basis for the local shop, especially in the small villages on their lonely mountain tops...
So after a particularly long day, bereft of stops, getting lost due to missing signs, I found myself in Artida in a hostel that was sheer bliss to stumble upon, with ready kitchen service, despite being the only walk-in guest. A regular Michelin experience after some days austerity...
- So you really need to be two, to share a back up carrying capacity to compensate for unforeseen and sheer lack of food.
I used Callum Christies guide from 2021,
Camino Catalan. The tranquil route towards Santiago de Compostela. Callum J. Christie. 1aed 2021
Walking routes from Catalonia to La Rioja and Navarre
- which probably explained that no phone numbers were correct anymore and I had to rely on sheer luck to find the people who had the key to the local Albergue. Phone number on the door was more often than not outdated.
Apart from that and probably due to the very late time of the year, I got by and met some very helpful people who helped me out and gave me lifts; in the village Botoya, on the road to San Juan de la Peña, the private Albergue was closed and the local stonemason put me up for the night and cooked me Tortillas, slept under an ancient roof.
This is my first real ´saved just before dark´ moment ever !
Next day everything was closed down due to Monday closing day in both Santa Cruz de la Seros and Santa Cilia...I got a lift out ...
All this closing was also due to the fact that October marks the end of the season, November is really the time off for the locals. Time to see relatives, and then, in December in Aragon there is a new influx of ski tourist for the winter, or so I was told.
So I had really been fortunate to get as far I did, considering the month...
All this marked the sure end of this trail with what I was given at this time of year and when winter and the hard, cold wind from the North started, it was the final of my itinerary this time around, and I bused out from Monreal to Pamplona to nurse an oncoming cold... brass monkey and all that...
I need to do this last part again in a warmer season, but the whole stretch is to be recommended
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