Question about the Mogro-Requejada segment (Stage Santander-Santillana del Mar)

[rvf]

Hi fellow Camino walkers,

I'm doing the Camino del Norte in late April and just trying to prepare by working through the route with Google Maps. As I was poring over the maps, I realized that there's one specific maneuver in Mogro that most guides that I'd looked through either don't have any details on or send me in the direction that I wouldn't expect or be able to explain rationally. I've also looked through the forum but I am failing to find any bits on this specific question (most posts seem to deal with the railroad bridge crossing).

Here's the turn that I'm struggling with. If I'm interpreting it correctly, leaving Mogro, most guides have you go south-southwest on CA-325, hanging left behind the Iglesia de San Martin. As you keep walking south on CA-325, the route suddenly changes direction and has you going almost directly north by turning right here, just before reaching Bárcena de Cudón (*):

https://www.google.com/maps/place/43°24'54.5"N+3°59'37.5"W/@43.415124,-3.993744,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0

The trail then apparently continues up that road, heading ***northwest*** before entering Cudón, crossing the CA-232, and taking a 90-degree turn at that famous pipeline.

Assuming the above assumptions about the standard route are correct, would anyone be able to help me understand why there's this major change of course at the (*) turn referenced above? It would seem logical to continue down CA-325, making a right at Talleres Rucal S.L. (Google maps coordinates 43.410549, -3.996957) and then getting back to the pipeline at 43.406050, -4.013117, which is much closer to your ultimate destination.

I would totally understand if that's the historic route (traditional, more scenic, etc.) and that's just the way it is - I just wanted to make sure that I'm 1) not totally misinterpreting the trail directions and 2) there's nothing scary/dangerous about the shorter route that I described above. I did my best looking through Street View and couldn't figure out why that might be a problem. I might be missing something though, so I'd appreciate any help or insight that you can provide.

Thank you and ¡Buen Camino!

Roman

 

[peregrino_tom]

Hi Roman
That's a very confusing area (322, 323, 232 etc) and I think that (after I walked over the railway bridge to Mogro station and on to Mogro) I did exactly what you are suggesting - not turning north to Miengo, but continuing on the 325 for about 400m to the junction with the 322 and then turning right towards Mar. If you look in the Cicerone guide to the northern caminos, it is suggested that you follow the 322 all the way from close to Mogro station, ignoring the signs that take you to Mogro village. What you have to remember is that Cantabria has some of the most bonkers way-marking of any camino and you shouldn't try and apply logic to it. If you have a guide with a detailed map like the cicerone one you can sometimes get the better of it and achieve a small victory. But most of the time it's best to just follow the arrows, shrug and say 'es Cantabria'
cheers, tom

 

[rvf]

Hi Roman
That's a very confusing area (322, 323, 232 etc) and I think that (after I walked over the railway bridge to Mogro station and on to Mogro) I did exactly what you are suggesting - not turning north to Miengo, but continuing on the 325 for about 400m to the junction with the 322 and then turning right towards Mar. If you look in the Cicerone guide to the northern caminos, it is suggested that you follow the 322 all the way from close to Mogro station, ignoring the signs that take you to Mogro village. What you have to remember is that Cantabria has some of the most bonkers way-marking of any camino and you shouldn't try and apply logic to it. If you have a guide with a detailed map like the cicerone one you can sometimes get the better of it and achieve a small victory. But most of the time it's best to just follow the arrows, shrug and say 'es Cantabria'
cheers, tom

Hi Tom -

Thanks a lot for your response, this is very helpful. I'll probably do just that unless I have a really good reason to go the roundabout way. And I'm glad to know for a fact that somebody did go that other route (via 322) in the past

Roman

 

[MKalcolm M]

I stopped at the little independent alberge at Benzanes about 10km past Santander. The hospitallero gave us detailed directions for how to proceed the next day, including how to use the rail bridge, as this route took about 8km of uneventful walking off the days hike. It was a great place to stay, and made sense of the next days walking. We just followed her directions, and coupled with the yellow arrows had no problems finding our way. There was a lot of road walking that day, and it would be easy to see why different guides take you different routes.

 

[rvf]

I stopped at the little independent alberge at Benzanes about 10km past Santander. The hospitallero gave us detailed directions for how to proceed the next day, including how to use the rail bridge, as this route took about 8km of uneventful walking off the days hike. It was a great place to stay, and made sense of the next days walking. We just followed her directions, and coupled with the yellow arrows had no problems finding our way. There was a lot of road walking that day, and it would be easy to see why different guides take you different routes.

Thanks! I'll be starting out in Santander that day and the goal is to reach Santillana del Mar that same day. So with close to 40 km of distance, I'm trying to minimize the risk of getting lost on that stretch.

 

[Tia Valeria]

The police and the rail company have clamped down on crossing the bridge in the past year. It is considered dangerous and is apparently also illegal. They suggest taking the train between the 2 stations to cross the river, or else follow the arrows round to the bridge.

 

[rvf]

The police and the rail company have clamped down on crossing the bridge in the past year. It is considered dangerous and is apparently also illegal. They suggest taking the train between the 2 stations to cross the river, or else follow the arrows round to the bridge.

Point well taken, thank you Valeria. I haven't heard about the police clamping down on this, so this is good to know. I understand this is ultimately my responsibility to accept if I decide to cross the bridge on foot. But just out of curiosity and to gauge the risks - if you know, of course - what do they do? Do they give out tickets? Arrest people and throw them in jail? From what I've been able to find out, it's been technically illegal to cross since the beginning of time - the "Prohibido el paso" sign can be seen on almost all pictures that people take of that bridge. Neither the pilgrims nor the locals have seemed to care

Roman

 

[Tia Valeria]

Point well taken, thank you Valeria. I haven't heard about the police clamping down on this, so this is good to know. I understand this is ultimately my responsibility to accept if I decide to cross the bridge on foot. But just out of curiosity and to gauge the risks - if you know, of course - what do they do? Do they give out tickets? Arrest people and throw them in jail? From what I've been able to find out, it's been technically illegal to cross since the beginning of time - the "Prohibido el paso" sign can be seen on almost all pictures that people take of that bridge. Neither the pilgrims nor the locals have seemed to care

Roman

I don't know if there is an on-the -spot fine, or anything - sorry - just that they had stopped folk going over (locals as well as pilgrims). Rumour had it that they were allowing people to use the train between Boo and Mogro for free with their credencial and it only cost about 1€ anyway. I realise that you might not want to use public transprt once you start walking but there are 3 possibilities that you might want to consider, apart from crossing the bridge. (It is actually given as 900mts on the tracks with half-hourly trains both ways plus freight trains.)
1) Take the train in Boo to Mogro - the 'cercanias' run every half hour I believe.
2) Take the train from Santander to Mogro, missing the bridge and a walk through the industrial area too. It also makes the first day less daunting.
3) Walk to Boo and then the route to near Puente Arce following the arrows. Follow the arrows back towards Mogro and where the official route crosses the C-322 turn left along the road (once waymarked as the Camino) and continue to Mar where the arrows re-aapear and continue into Requejada where you rejoin the official route This looks as though it is the same distance as crossing the bridge and taking the official route from Mogro.
Buen Camino

 

[rvf]

I don't know if there is an on-the -spot fine, or anything - sorry - just that they had stopped folk going over (locals as well as pilgrims). Rumour had it that they were allowing people to use the train between Boo and Mogro for free with their credencial and it only cost about 1€ anyway. I realise that you might not want to use public transprt once you start walking but there are 3 possibilities that you might want to consider, apart from crossing the bridge. (It is actually given as 900mts on the tracks with half-hourly trains both ways plus freight trains.)
1) Take the train in Boo to Mogro - the 'cercanias' run every half hour I believe.
2) Take the train from Santander to Mogro, missing the bridge and a walk through the industrial area too. It also makes the first day less daunting.
3) Walk to Boo and then the route to near Puente Arce following the arrows. Follow the arrows back towards Mogro and where the official route crosses the C-322 turn left along the road (once waymarked as the Camino) and continue to Mar where the arrows re-aapear and continue into Requejada where you rejoin the official route This looks as though it is the same distance as crossing the bridge and taking the official route from Mogro.
Buen Camino

That's a great list of options to consider. All of these are pretty good, I'm starting to think about taking the FEVE train directly to Mogro and starting out from there. Thank you so much for your input, Valeria!

Roman

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Santander to Santillana is a long walk, although I have seen people do it. They just didn't get out of the bed the next day ;0)

And you will miss two good albergues: Santa Cruz de la Bezana (communal) as well as the super comfortable, impecable and well located Boo algergue (they even give you towels for your shower, on top of the well made bed), which is 10 meters from the train station. Spend the night there, jump on the 1st train in the morning, get off in Morgo and keep going.

 

[rvf]

Santander to Santillana is a long walk, although I have seen people do it. They just didn't get out of the bed the next day ;0)

And you will miss two good albergues: Santa Cruz de la Bezana (communal) as well as the super comfortable, impecable and well located Boo algergue (they even give you towels for your shower, on top of the well made bed), which is 10 meters from the train station. Spend the night there, jump on the 1st train in the morning, get off in Morgo and keep going.

Sure - I guess I could do that too. But then...since I've got to start in Santander (where I'm staying the night before my first day), I'm just not sure if it's worth spending the entire day walking a pretty short distance through what looks like an industrial area (as Tia Valeria pointed out above) on the outskirts of the city and then stopping for the night in Santa Cruz de la Bezana or Boo. I think that I'd like to eventually end up in Santillana the first day. It's a question of how I get there. The more I think about it, the better the Santander -> Mogro train option is looking.

Thank you for your response and the recommendations!

Roman

 

[MKalcolm M]

Don't want to discourage you in anyway, but one of the best bits of advice I got was not to overdo it in the first days of walking. Its tempting to push on ahead, but the aches pains and blisters can really low you down a few days later... Have a contingency plan so you can slow down or stop if you feel tired.

 

[rvf]

Don't want to discourage you in anyway, but one of the best bits of advice I got was not to overdo it in the first days of walking. Its tempting to push on ahead, but the aches pains and blisters can really low you down a few days later... Have a contingency plan so you can slow down or stop if you feel tired.

Yep, absolutely. That makes total sense. I'm keeping track of all albergues at around the midpoint of every stage - precisely for that reason!

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Don't want to discourage you in anyway, but one of the best bits of advice I got was not to overdo it in the first days of walking. Its tempting to push on ahead, but the aches pains and blisters can really low you down a few days later... Have a contingency plan so you can slow down or stop if you feel tired.

Could not agree more: my guide clocks the distance at 44.07km - 33.27km if taking the train to go over the bridge. Plus it's a day of asphalt, asphalt and then more asphalt. There is another suggested variation, not official Camino, and it shaves of 3.8km: by road without passing through Morgo, Miengo and Cudon.

 

[rvf]

Could not agree more: my guide clocks the distance at 44.07km - 33.27km if taking the train to go over the bridge. Plus it's a day of asphalt, asphalt and then more asphalt. There is another suggested variation, not official Camino, and it shaves of 3.8km: by road without passing through Morgo, Miengo and Cudon.

Yeah, I think that's the "follow the 322 all the way" option that Tom mentioned at the start of the thread. And it helps avoid the pipeline.

 

[peregrina2000]

Plus it's a day of asphalt, asphalt and then more asphalt.

Oh, it's more than a day of asphalt. I walked a section of the Norte a few years ago when I was walking the Vadiniense/Lebaniego, and I paid attention to the asphalt. From Santander, it's asphalt almost all the way to Comillas. It's a killer on the feet.

 

[peregrino_tom]

Hi Roman
A more positive view - Cicerone northern caminos guide gives the distance as 32.5km taking the 322 option. I think that's about right and it's an easy way, so very do-able. When you get to Boo you can see whether it's possible to walk over the bridge or not (as I don't suppose it's actually any more dangerous that when I and countless others did it). If you can't, then just back-track for 10 minutes to the station. I was told that pilgrims could take that 5-minute journey on the FEVE for free but you'll need to decide whether you pay or not. Either way, this episode is not anything to be concerned about - you have options which don't involve walking 40+km and you can easily decide what to do when you get there.
cheers, tom