Rest stop adviice

[max44]

I have done a lot of trekking with heavy combat/medic loads over the years. I can understand the major focus on this site where people count grams when packing thier pack.
I will now have a walking partner and will be carrying a lot of her gear as well.

My question, and please excuse my ignorance as I havnt walked the camino before. We have two months in Spain, are there places to stop for the night in between the normal 25km per day walk?

Lets say she gets tired or I get tired from the 15kg pack, do you have to keep walking till the next way point or are places to stay at frequent intervals?

I looked at a topographical map, and it looks like the first two days out of SJPDP are mostly uphill.
We are going in Early April 2013.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

If you buy the John Brierley guidebook, you will have a very comprehensive list of the accommodations that are available. In some places you can stop every few kilometers. In other stretches you have have 10 km or so. Also, he has section profiles that show you the elevation changes. In addition you can to to eroski or mundicamino and see the route, elevation change, and accommodations.

http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/
http://www.mundicamino.com/ingles/centro.cfm

 

[max44]

Thanks Falcon. With so many guide books, at least i know which one to get now before i leave my home town.
Thanks

 

[supersullivan]

Hi max44

I covered the Sarria - Santiago stretch this year as a recce for doing St Jean to Santiago next year and my partner ( non regular hiker ) had her heart set on coming with me after seeing the movie 'The Way' so I was in a similar situation to yourself. Our 2 backpacks combined to 18 kilos including about 3 litres of daily water so I was carrying about 13 kilos and my better half about 5 kilos and I managed to include a small laptop in my 13 kilos so with good packing you should be able to come in at less than this combined weight. Brierley's 9th edition came out in August 2012 so that will the the most current available for the time you depart, on Amazon you are able to look at sample pages which will give you a good idea of his schematics, his maps and elevation charts are not drawn to a strict scale but will give you a very good idea of the easiness/difficulty of the stretches coming up.

Best wishes on your Camino

Seamus

 

[max44]

Re: Rest stop advice

Thanks Seamus

 

[tyrrek]

I reckon you'll be fine. There are one or two places where you have route options and Brierley's guide shows those.

I'm thinking, for example, of a stretch beyond Sahagun where you can either walk through El Burgo Ranero or alternatively via (I think) Calzadilla de los Hermanillos. The latter route has very little of anything along the way after CdlH, but is classic Meseta country. The former is closer to the road and a bit bland but has more options for accomm, food etc. Your call!

Buen Camino!

 

[jastrace]

G'day max,

you have lots of options. With the exception of a few stretches on the Camino there are plenty of places to stop along the way that will fit whatever distance you want to walk that day.

If limiting distances because of load is what you are thinking of there are lots of ways to manage that:
- walk some, bus/taxi some;
- walk shorter distances each day (as you suggest);
- use a pack transport service to remove the load and more comfortably walk the same distance or walk longer if you feel like it; or
- use less strenuous alternate paths

For example there are pack transport services that will transport your pack from one location to another that you can use for the entire Camino or for sections of it (eg up and over the Pyrenees).

When you walk over the Pyrenees you can stop approx half way up at Refuge Orrison (http://www.refuge-orisson.com/) and split the walk or rather than taking route Napoleon you could take the Valcarlos route which climbs to a lower altitude.

There is a wealth of information on this forum already and any number of very helpful and experienced people (like those who have answered you already) who will be prepared to assist.

Don't be shy about asking questions that may have been asked before.

Don't assume that there is a particular way you should walk the Camino, specific equipment or accommodation you have to choose or specific motives you have to have for your Camino to be legitimate or as credible as anyone else. While possibly the largest Camino forum around the population of this forum is generally English speaking and a relatively small percentage of all those that walk the Camino each year. So feel free to form your own views.

Walk the Camino any way that suits you and that you think will allow you to get the experience you want. It's a long expensive trip from Australia to Europe so make it the way you want it.

As well as the guide suggested by falcon check out the following site: http://www.godesalco.com/plan/frances. I found it to be a very helpful tool to working out what each of my days on the Camino was going to be and will be on my Camino nexy year.

Any other questions you have just fire away here on the forum or send us a PM.

Cheers,

Jason.

 

[max44]

Thanks Jason,
A few good options there.
At least I could drop our combined weight down and have it sent ahead. 40kg is okay for a few days but not a month or so.

I was thinking 10kg max for that long of a trip.
Once again, thank you
Terry

 

[wayfarer]

Great links Jastrace and Falcon, thank you.

 

[mralisn]

10kg is very doable and allows for much more "freedom". Keep in mind if there is something you leave at home and later find out you need it, mostly likely you'll be able to find it somewhere on the Camino. Many times we leave an items behind, stress about not bringing, and then realize how easy we can do without. Multi-functioning and less is more makes life much more enjoyable.

You'll have such an incredible experience!

 

[fortview]

Hi,
With advice from this forum, endless hours spent in outdoor shops, packing, and repacking, my rucksack weighed 5kgs complete with water and food !
As I got used to walking and carrying this weight , I could carry more and over the course of the Camino bought things as they were needed. These were : an Altus poncho , a fleece hat, fleece gloves, more toiletries, deep heat cream, a torch, and a long sleeved t shirt and an extra fleece jumper and proper hiking sandals.
There is no shortage of shops, and it worked out better than fine for me . Many people were surprised at how light my pack was
And some days I only managed 10 Kim's but there's always places to stay and not all of them are in guide books !
Buen camino
Helen ( 55 but don't tell everyone )

 

[mralisn]

I trained with 13kg (max) for many months and only took 8kg fully loaded while on Camino. Some people have said there comes a time when it seems like the backpack has fallen off. After a couple of weeks, one's body can become quite used the the weight to wear it seems like a small day bag. One day, I stopped in the forest and was sure my straps had broke or I had not put my pack on after cafe' con leche break! When I return to the Camino in 2014, I'll have an even lighter pack.

(I should add all 3 of my walks have started in June. Lighter clothing of course.)

That's awesome Helen! No need for the blushing face at 55!

 

[fortview]

Thank you so much mralisn !
Only blushing because I mentioned my age at all !
And you are so right about getting used to it. My dear camino friend said that putting on her rucksack in the morning was like getting a hug !
Helen

 

[Jochen-Schmidtke]

Re: Alternative sleeping places

Hi Max44.

Lets say she gets tired or I get tired from the 15kg pack, do you have to keep walking till the next way point or are places to stay at frequent intervals?

Here you can download an actual list of refuges and other alternative accomodations like hostales, hotels and other places to sleep along the camino.
It is written in German but you will be able to decipher it. Have a look at the list.
The numbers before the name of the towns are the km left to Santiago. So you can easily calculate the distance between the places.
Buen Camino
Jochen

 

[Sunshine Jen]

I wanted to add my own two bits to the excellent advice already given.

In the course of a day on the Camino, you can stop as much as you want. There were some days when I stopped a lot. I'd go a few kilometers, stop and sit in the shade, eat an orange, walk for an hour, stop, walk for an hour, and eventually roll into whatever town I was gonna stay at. Some days, I would go a long way without stopping. I really started paying attention to how I was feeling.

Remember, it's a walk, not a race.

Jen

 

[mralisn]

My dear camino friend said that putting on her rucksack in the morning was like getting a hug !
Helen

Ohh, I LOVE that! It's true! One of the best analogies I've ever read. I will think of this from now on. Thank you Helen.

Keep a smile,
Simeon

 

[fortview]

 

[sillydoll]

There are refuges, on average, every 6km - 8km. In between you'll find pensiones, hostales, casa rurals, hotels, inns etc.

This is one of the best websites for checking on how to get to the start of your walk, descriptions of each stage, profile maps, lists of albergues with opening times, costs, no of beds etc, and other interesting info for the different Camino routes.

http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/los ... o/frances/

 

[Deleted member 3000]

the first two days out of SJPDP are mostly uphill.

You can do a virtual walk using Google Street View:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=St+Jean+ ... 11,,0,0.18

 

[Rodeojones]

the first two days out of SJPDP are mostly uphill.

You can do a virtual walk using Google Street View:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=St+Jean+ ... 11,,0,0.18

That was cool...thanks.

 

[Ampolla]

I wanted to add my own two bits to the excellent advice already given.

In the course of a day on the Camino, you can stop as much as you want. There were some days when I stopped a lot. I'd go a few kilometers, stop and sit in the shade, eat an orange, walk for an hour, stop, walk for an hour, and eventually roll into whatever town I was gonna stay at. Some days, I would go a long way without stopping. I really started paying attention to how I was feeling.

Remember, it's a walk, not a race.

Jen

Thanks Jen for this message. I was on the Camino in 2011 and felt that for many people it was a race. In fact, I almost got run over by a guy when I stopped 15 feet in front of him since he was just concentrating on the path and nothing else. Everyone does the Camino in their own way, but I really enjoyed walking and meeting people and seeing all that that area of Spain offers. I'm so happy to be going back in 2013!

 

[Ampolla]

Hi,
With advice from this forum, endless hours spent in outdoor shops, packing, and repacking, my rucksack weighed 5kgs complete with water and food !
As I got used to walking and carrying this weight , I could carry more and over the course of the Camino bought things as they were needed. These were : an Altus poncho , a fleece hat, fleece gloves, more toiletries, deep heat cream, a torch, and a long sleeved t shirt and an extra fleece jumper and proper hiking sandals.
There is no shortage of shops, and it worked out better than fine for me . Many people were surprised at how light my pack was
And some days I only managed 10 Kim's but there's always places to stay and not all of them are in guide books !
Buen camino
Helen ( 55 but don't tell everyone )

Great! My pack in 2011 weighed too much for me and I'm hoping to do better in 2013. 5kgs would be wonderful. I'm already wearing it each day with about that amount and walking a bit too and from work as possible. We're in the same age group and I don't plan on stopping my Camino's until I'm about 80 or so.

 

[fortview]

That's lovely Ampolla ! Nor do I , am so hooked now, can't wait to do another
Good luck with getting your pack weight down

Age is not an issue, I just put my age in case it helped the OP.

Buen camino,
Helen