Mudslides cause re-routing in Puente la Reina

I have walked the pavement from Puente la Reina to Maneru on the NA-1110. It is gradual elevation change and good footing, but a bit longer than the marked trail. Cross the A-12 at the first circle by turning right.

Walkers should expect problems with mud and mudslides all along the Camino route in Navarra, and exercise caution.

As I've posted on another thread about the weather here, the Guardia Civil has indicated that the walker's path from St. Jean Pied-de-Port to Mt. Erro/Zubiri is impassable due to snow. Past Zubiri, the trail is deeply muddy and there is danger of mudslides all along the Camino because Navarra has received 2/3 of its annual rainfall in the past month and a half alone.

There has been considerable flooding around Pamplona in February, a we've even had a section of Pamplona's old defensive walls collapse because of the excessive rainfall.



This occurred in a section of the wall past the cathedral, closer to the area near the Plaza de Toros, not on the side where the Camino passes.

There's been so much rainfall that the ground cannot absorb all the water, and the water has been a factor in the 40+ minor earthquakes that have been felt in Uterga and around the Sierra de Perdón as a result of the pressure on plates and the fault that runs under the Sierra and Pamplona. Yep, it's been an a hard winter here. Just waiting for the locust plagues to start... :|

I cycle quite a bit around Pamplona on the weekends, including along sections of the Camino. We haven't been able to go out for weeks because of the rain, and the one time we were able, we had to stick to asphalted roads. The trails in every direction, including the Camino, are too muddy right now. Anyone walking the Camino in Navarra right now must be prepared for lots of mud and exercise caution.

More rain today, tomorrow, and again Tuesday between Pamplona and Puente la Reina, so it will only get muddier. The temperature will be 9 to 16C. The roads parallel to the pilgrimage route are a satisfactory walk if you stick to the left side and wear a high visibility vest.

Buen camino, and keep dry!

I'm afraid I haven't been able to venture out into the countryside much for the past couple of weekends, but I would say that while there will certainly be mud one should be able to walk without an enormous amount of difficulty. You'll remember that the Camino varies between gravelled roads, dirt tracks, asphalted lanes and the occasional bit on the highway all the way through Navarra. There will certainly be deeply muddy, difficult stretches along the way (I'm thinking of the trails through vineyards outside of Cirauqui and Villamayor de Monjardín, for example), alternating with easier stretches along gravelled roads. Mud there will be, but it should be manageable for the most part, I'd think.

The ascent and the descent of Mt. Perdón are the stretches I'd be most concerned about. There was still snow on the summit and the northeast slope where the Camino runs as I came into work this morning. Assuming that's melting away, (it's 8ºC down here around Pamplona today) it'll make the slog up and down the mountain hard going, especially that bit with the wooden beams on the ascent. Those beams get slick with mud fast.