Kiwi-family
{Rachael, the Mama of the family}
- Time of past OR future Camino
- walking every day for the rest of my life
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Go the route to Villar de Mazarife, and you will avoid most of the highway walking after La Virgen del Camino. Tio Pepe in Villar is the best of the three albergues, in my opinion.The path from Leon to about Hospital de Oribigo is alongside a busy highway
Kiwi-family said:.....
Finally, I've read on this forum that the cooking facilities through Galicia are not as good as the rest of the Camino. Does that mean we are not going to be able to cook for ourselves? Or will we be able to if we carry a bowl and spoon for everyone and a sharp knife? Would we get by with that? (We're hoping to do at least some of our own cooking)....
Kiwi-family said:15yo has 7kg (he's a strong ox!)
16yo has 8kg (he's strong too, although weedy to look at!)
17yo has 8.5kg :| :|
Grandpa said his pack comes in at 5kg.
The bad news is that this does not include any water or food
Hello! I think you should really attempt to reduce the weight of these 3 packs of your elder children,plus your own. Of course,if you will be wearing some of this stuff, take these things out of the pack weight. Grandpa should NOT carry more!
Remember you will be carrying a lot of water and daily snacks, which is going to add to the weight. Maybe the two little ones could carry their water! You DO need sun protection. Buy a tube instead of a bottle - it weighs less. Anne
peregrino_tom said:PS there are a range of views as to how important it is to have very lightweight gear.
Yikes!!!ONE bar of soap for 11 people - it will take forever to organise the "shower ritual" after the day's walk!!!Take a few and cut them in half and distribute between several members of the family! Same with toothpaste - at least 2 or 3 tubes. As far as shampoo is concerned, I collect some of these sachet samples that one finds in hotels, they weigh less than bottles. For clothes washing, I usually buy a block of soap in Spain and cut it in half, take one piece with me and leave one half in the Albergue. AnneUse small bars of soap, and you only need one for the entire family (liquid soap is mainly water). Use soap for washing your hair.
Kiwi-family said:...The clothing is definitely is definitely a big contributor (given that there's not really a kitchen sink hiding in there). We are just taking what we have. And that means, yes, cotton shirts, cotton shorts, cotton undies, yeah, actually cotton everything apart from woolen socks. And (gasp) jeans. No, not lightweight dry-fast zip-the-leg-off tramping trousers. Just what is already in our wardrobes. The fleeces are not particularly lightweight either. In fact, when I take out the fleeces (thinking of sending them ahead to Santiago) and the clothing we'd be wearing, it comes down to just on 6kg for each of the older kids and me to be carrying. We've been carrying that much on our trials walks and it really doesn't seem too heavy. We can do 15km with those packs very comfortably. Makes me wonder if our scales are wrong!
Thanks for all your help. It sharpens my resolve.
vagabondette said:Assuming you're staying in a hotel in England (where it'll be likely cold/wet, not cool) I would leave behind:
1 shorts
1 tshirt
1 undies
2 socks
Either the keens OR the flip flops (assuming you're not walking in the Keens)
no thermals (if you find you need them in England go buy a cheap pair at M&S or ship them there to your hotel.)
no sleeping bag (wear long clothes to bed if necessary)
no bowl/spoon but if you find you *really* need them, pick up a cheapie while on the road
use safety pins instead of clothes pins. more secure and lighter.
I am walking the camino the same time and am also continuing my trip to England (though I won't be there until December). I am only carrying my camino gear and as I continue my trip I'll buy warmer stuff if/when I need it. For the 3 months after the camino I'll be in the Middle East (mostly) so I don't anticipate a big problem there but the UK will be COLD so I'm sending a box of warm layers to my friend in London that I'll get when I arrive. It might be an option for you.
Please can I humbly suggest that your 6 year old carries a small childs pack, perhaps with a tiny water bottle (about 200-250ml) and some small items that don't weigh much. That way she will be 'like everyone else' without being overloaded.The 6yo will not be required to carry anything other than herself!
Kiwi-family said:I still tend to think 20km is quite a stretch for little legs, even though she does 15 easily now. I lean towards "biassing for the best" for the smaller people, but will readily push big kids who can be reasoned with and of whom you can expect more to their limits.
We have had several extrememly hot days here in UK and I have been glad our 7 & 8 year old grandchildren were carrying their water bottles as we could check on how much they had drunk. (Which reminded me of this thread)Kiwi-family said:I'm in two minds over the smallest carrying water.
...............
Swaying on this one. We did see a child-sized hydration pack which carries 1.5l of water which seems great for her - but at $100, it's just too pricey. When we take our next walk, we'll give her one of the hydration packs we already have and see how that works. Always willing to try....
- a lightweight nylon line is indispensable & pegs are an essential - that said, safety pins work even better. I just pin them to the outside of my pack - sweet as! The nylon chord is a washing line, ties up my tarp when i feel like a wee moe in the shade along the way, cut bits off for ties & busted shoe laces & pack straps, hang stuff up at the end of my bunk overnight (socks & undies & stuff)...One more question - do we need to carry pegs/clothespins?
- legend!! who's carrying the weetbix??8 year old is still carrying her 2kg backpack with all her clothes and toothbrush, no troubles.
6 year old has done a few walks now with her big sister's 2litre hydration pack. She has not complained at all, despite only managing to carry the 8yo's (same weight) pack for about 100m when she wanted to try it out one day...
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