- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2014 Pamplona to Burgos, 2017 SJDP to Santiago,
Hi we just completed our Camino and thought some of our experiences could be helpful.
This is written from the point of view of a 56 year old male and a 59 year old female. We had done some training and I was quite a bit fitter than my wife.
This is my second Camino and with my wife's fitness level I vowed to walk at her level, carry her water and concentrate on helping her when ever she needed it. Some accommodation was booked in large cities this had good and bad effects but more on this later. Our packs were 8kgs for my wife and 9kgs for me (though this became different).
I packed one set of trekking poles and these became invaluable as we used one each and we found them to be essential for certain sections.
We walked the Valcarlos route to break the trip to Roncesvalles into two days. This worked well with a bit of road walking but was worth the ease of the first day and made the next day much easier. The albergue at Valcarlos is good and we were at Roncesvalles before 1 pm so we easily had a bed for the second night.
The next day to Zubiri was the worst, forget the 23kms it is more like 28kms and for many the tiredness after yesterdays climb (from SJPdP to Roncesvalles) caused many problems in the steep and rocky decline at the end. I would advise that either a pack transfer or going to an albergue after Roncesvalles to make the route shorter. If not for the kind deed of a young man taking my wife's pack the last 4kms I don't think she could have made it.
When we reached Pamplona it was obvious she could not walk while carrying her pack for the whole distance each day (I had carried her pack several times and that wasn't sustainable for me). We then arranged pack transfer which is easy to arrange but tied us to a destination (I also took advantage of this so my pack was down to 4-5 kilos and certainly made it easy for me)
So with these changes we set off:
As we walked my wife found it necessary to take some rest days because of injury and tiredness so some sections had to be skipped to stay on schedule (this was the downside of pre booking,the upside was lovely rooms) but the majority was walked even though she had the pain of a bruised heel .
We arrived in Santiago after 38 days together and still talking which is amazing and I was so proud of her !!!
So to sum up pack transfer was great for us.
Planning too much can be a disadvantage you need to be flexible to react to events that will happen
If stoping early 1-2 pm and you are not fussy you will always find beds, you can book ahead easily as you walk either by internet or asking your host that night to ring ahead.
We walked 5th may to 11th June and sometimes it was busy and sometimes not (we like to socialise so not an issue for us). One thing that was very annoying were the bikes on difficult sections, not using their bell and expecting you to get out of their way while you had difficulty enough traversing the terrain. At times there were roads right next to the walking trail and my wife and I both believe they should have been using these.
The last 100kms was interesting as by then we had formed a tribe or family so it was difficult to integrate with the new pilgrims certainly at first but we had expected this so were prepared for this.
Last time I had completed the Pamplona to Burgos route which I now realise was easier compared to some of the other sections of the Frances. We had no blisters between us and were averaging 20kms each day ensuring rest breaks to air our feet and wool socks, we also had one size larger trainers than normal to compensate for the wool socks and allow our feet to expand.
To be honest I had some doubts before we started, was this a good idea , was my first great experience a one off and was I asking too much of my wife.
All I can say is that if anything with my wife beside me it was even better than last time I just wish she didn't have to go though so much while I got off scot free pain wise.
This is written from the point of view of a 56 year old male and a 59 year old female. We had done some training and I was quite a bit fitter than my wife.
This is my second Camino and with my wife's fitness level I vowed to walk at her level, carry her water and concentrate on helping her when ever she needed it. Some accommodation was booked in large cities this had good and bad effects but more on this later. Our packs were 8kgs for my wife and 9kgs for me (though this became different).
I packed one set of trekking poles and these became invaluable as we used one each and we found them to be essential for certain sections.
We walked the Valcarlos route to break the trip to Roncesvalles into two days. This worked well with a bit of road walking but was worth the ease of the first day and made the next day much easier. The albergue at Valcarlos is good and we were at Roncesvalles before 1 pm so we easily had a bed for the second night.
The next day to Zubiri was the worst, forget the 23kms it is more like 28kms and for many the tiredness after yesterdays climb (from SJPdP to Roncesvalles) caused many problems in the steep and rocky decline at the end. I would advise that either a pack transfer or going to an albergue after Roncesvalles to make the route shorter. If not for the kind deed of a young man taking my wife's pack the last 4kms I don't think she could have made it.
When we reached Pamplona it was obvious she could not walk while carrying her pack for the whole distance each day (I had carried her pack several times and that wasn't sustainable for me). We then arranged pack transfer which is easy to arrange but tied us to a destination (I also took advantage of this so my pack was down to 4-5 kilos and certainly made it easy for me)
So with these changes we set off:
As we walked my wife found it necessary to take some rest days because of injury and tiredness so some sections had to be skipped to stay on schedule (this was the downside of pre booking,the upside was lovely rooms) but the majority was walked even though she had the pain of a bruised heel .
We arrived in Santiago after 38 days together and still talking which is amazing and I was so proud of her !!!
So to sum up pack transfer was great for us.
Planning too much can be a disadvantage you need to be flexible to react to events that will happen
If stoping early 1-2 pm and you are not fussy you will always find beds, you can book ahead easily as you walk either by internet or asking your host that night to ring ahead.
We walked 5th may to 11th June and sometimes it was busy and sometimes not (we like to socialise so not an issue for us). One thing that was very annoying were the bikes on difficult sections, not using their bell and expecting you to get out of their way while you had difficulty enough traversing the terrain. At times there were roads right next to the walking trail and my wife and I both believe they should have been using these.
The last 100kms was interesting as by then we had formed a tribe or family so it was difficult to integrate with the new pilgrims certainly at first but we had expected this so were prepared for this.
Last time I had completed the Pamplona to Burgos route which I now realise was easier compared to some of the other sections of the Frances. We had no blisters between us and were averaging 20kms each day ensuring rest breaks to air our feet and wool socks, we also had one size larger trainers than normal to compensate for the wool socks and allow our feet to expand.
To be honest I had some doubts before we started, was this a good idea , was my first great experience a one off and was I asking too much of my wife.
All I can say is that if anything with my wife beside me it was even better than last time I just wish she didn't have to go though so much while I got off scot free pain wise.
. My pack is 6k and his will be about 9k dry weight.
grow fonder, springs to mind.
