seeking advice for the beginning

Kiwi-family

{Rachael, the Mama of the family}

Time of past OR future Camino

walking every day for the rest of my life

• Apr 21, 2013

• #1

35 hour flight to Barcelona. Stay overnight.
Next day catch train to Irun, change on to another one up to Dax (relaxing 7 hours on train).
Walk Dax to Peyrehorade – 23.7 googlemap km
Next day walk to Briscous through Urt – 24.2km
Day 3 to Louhoussa via Hasparren – 22.4km
Day 4 to St Jean – 25km
I had hoped this distance could be covered over an extra day, but cheaper (or any) accommodation seems to require this staging. Do you think it’s too hard with an 11 year old and 13 year old?
And although I know the answer is “wait and see how you’re feeling”, I want to ask: would you contemplate going all the way to Roncesvalles the following day?
Reason I ask is that we’re trying to organise for Daddy and two girls to join us in Pamplona and need to work out how many days to allow. All the way to Roncesvalles in one hit and then one day to Zubiri (21.8km) and another to Pamplona (20.8) would put our flight dates exactly a week apart (convenient for getting the cheapest flights). I know it’s not the end of the world if they arrive a day before us BUT we’ll only be together for two weeks, then I’ll be walking on with the kids while Daddy goes back to work, so we really want to make the most of every moment – and DON’T want to take a bus!
Appreciate your input.

 

Kiwi-family

{Rachael, the Mama of the family}

Time of past OR future Camino

walking every day for the rest of my life

• Apr 21, 2013

• #2

Alternative question: does anyone know inexpensive accommodation in these places?

Urt
Hasparren
Irissary

That would put our daily distances at 21 - 19.8 - 17.9 - 18.5 - 15.2....in other words, more doable.

 

zammy

Active Member

• Apr 21, 2013

• #3

Why have you decided on Dax?
is there a marked trail from there to SJPDP?
are there municipal hostels and gites available?
Are you planning on walking the entire Camino?
If not how many walkinmg days did you plan?
How much weight will your kids carry? have they trained and are in good shape?
when will you start?
25 km a day for a 11 years old seems to me too much for the first walking days.

 

Kanga

Veteran Member

Donating Member

Time of past OR future Camino

Francés x 5, Le Puy x 2, Arles, Tours, Norte, Madrid, Via de la Plata, Portuguese, Primitivo

• Apr 21, 2013

• #4

I'm a seasoned camino walker and a human rights and children's lawyer! And yes, I do think it is too much for an 11 year old and a 13 year old! Your children will not get anything out if it except injuries and resentment. 15km a day is plenty for children that age, at least at the start. This is not a quick 3 day walk down the Milford Sound, it is an 800 endurance walk. Use tried and true routes with good infrastructure and support and start slowly. Why are you starting at Dax? Why not catch the train all the way to SJPDP?

 

KiwiNomad06

Veteran Member

Time of past OR future Camino

Le Puy-Santiago(2008) Cluny-Conques+prt CF(2012)

• Apr 21, 2013

• #5

I know I would find those distances pretty tough at the beginning Rachael, and you will still be feeling jet lagged if you have flown from NZ. I know you will start off flat from Dax, but does it get hilly after that? - because you might need shorter distances than that if it is.

I am sure you must have looked at the end of the Le Puy route as a lead in to SJPP. Was it poor transport options that led to the canning of that idea?

Personally, even though I was quite fit by that stage, I found the distance from Orisson to Roncesvalles quite tiring, so I wouldn't be expecting the children to cope with more than that.

All the best with your continued planning.
Margaret

 

Kiwi-family

{Rachael, the Mama of the family}

Time of past OR future Camino

walking every day for the rest of my life

• Apr 21, 2013

• #6

You're right Margaret......from Dax is as flat as you could hope for! Hard to tell from googlemaps whether it stays that way - hoping someone might be able to tell me.
You're right about the Le Puy possibility too.
We also considered doing a hike from Barcelona to the monastery at Montserrat and then just starting from Pamplona - but that is fraught with its own difficulties and we're thinking of just stopping there on our way back to Barcelona if we have time.
Another possibility was suggested by LovingKindness - that's following the marked way to Bayonne and back down to Saint Jean. It still has the long beginning unless you do a 7km day (possibility of course). Problem with that is that it's longer than we want to go!

 

Kanga

Veteran Member

Donating Member

Time of past OR future Camino

Francés x 5, Le Puy x 2, Arles, Tours, Norte, Madrid, Via de la Plata, Portuguese, Primitivo

• Apr 21, 2013

• #7

The walk between SJPDP and Pamplona (apart from the cement factory near Laransoana) is lovely. There are also now many small bed breakfast/hostels/albergues in between. Why not just take the whole time waiting for Dad to walk it? Take 2 days to enjoy SJPDP (fantastic farmers market, can't remember the day), great ramparts to explore, lovely river, really pretty French town - I was forced once to spend 4 days there and loved it. Then take two days to walk to Roncesvalles, and divide the rest of the time between there and Pamplona. Easy as!

 

Kiwi-family

{Rachael, the Mama of the family}

Time of past OR future Camino

walking every day for the rest of my life

• Apr 21, 2013

• #8

Would you do this Margaret:

Dax to Cagnotte 14.4km
Cagnotte to Peyrehorade 7km
Peyrehorade to Urt 19.8km
Urt to Hasparren 15.5km
Hasparren to Helette 11.8km (or on to Irissarry another 6.7km)
Helette to Saint Jean 21.9km (if from Irissarry only 15.2km)

I'm thinking the lower road from Saint Jean to Roncesvalles is easier than the Napoleon route - so if we were tired we could always take that route. We're not determined to have to go over the mountain!

 

KiwiNomad06

Veteran Member

Time of past OR future Camino

Le Puy-Santiago(2008) Cluny-Conques+prt CF(2012)

• Apr 22, 2013

• #9

Rachael, doing it over 5-6 days looks much more manageable than 4, especially when your bodies will probably be still trying to tell you they need to sleep at odd hours of the afternoon. (I gave myself the luxury of 4 whole days in Paris each time for my body to 'acclimatise' before I started walking!) But I don't know how 'flat' your last day or two will be, as you transition into the Basque country at the foot of the Pyrenees. I know there are some hilly bits in those last couple of days into SJPP on the Le Puy route.

As far as the route to Roncesvalles goes, there is still a longish climb at the end of the Valcarlos route. I was fortunate enough to have fine weather, but not too hot, for both days over the Pyrenees, and so I know the views on the Napoleon Route are spectacular if you are lucky enough to get them! A rainbow across the mountains in the evening at Orisson was one of the highlights of my whole Camino. There is now a gite just before you get to Orisson, run by the same people, but cheaper w/o a meal, and you have the option of cooking your own meal.
Margaret

 

Kiwi-family

{Rachael, the Mama of the family}

Time of past OR future Camino

walking every day for the rest of my life

• Apr 22, 2013

• #10

zammy said:

Why have you decided on Dax?

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We want to do a total of 1,000km and that's the easiest place to get to before SJPDP (coming from Barcelona)

is there a marked trail from there to SJPDP?

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Some of the way is marked and LovingKindness has sent me pretty specific instructions that go from Dax to Bayonne and then down to Saint Jean. I'm trying to shortcut the Bayonne bit out of it by using googlemaps!

are there municipal hostels and gites available?

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Some - I have a list of them, and have also found (obviously more expensive) hotels.

Are you planning on walking the entire Camino?
If not how many walking days did you plan?

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1,000km over 70-ish days. Possibly Dax to Saint Jean, SJ to Leon, Leon to Oviedo (del Salvador route), Primitivo to Melide, and Frances to Santiago.

How much weight will your kids carry?

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8 year old = 2kg
10 year old = 4kg
11 and 13 year olds = just over 4kg, under 5kg...plus some food

have they trained and are in good shape?

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They are very active (it's what happens when you severely restrict access to technological gadgets!) They walk at least 5km every day doing paper runs, happily hike 20km, can manage 30km at a slower pace, but would not want to do that day after day. 25km is comfortable for all but the youngest one.

when will you start?

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hopefully May 2014

25 km a day for a 11 years old seems to me too much for the first walking days.

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I'm with you on that. Unless the terrain is flat. I know it takes us about three days to get over jetlag coming from NZ. That said, we must have walked 15km a day in Paris when we were there before our Camino last year! I am definitely trying to see if the days can be shortened. Sometimes posting questions on here brings out a suggestion from someone who knows how it could easily be done. That's what I'm hoping for! Thanks for your concern.

 

Kitsambler

Jakobsweg Junkie

Time of past OR future Camino

SJPP 2023

• Apr 22, 2013

• #11

For some of the newer posters - you may not be aware that Rachael and her (large) Kiwi-family walked a considerable piece of the Camino Frances last year; it was a three-generation adventure well worth the reading of her blog (see her signature link).

For Rachael - I'm trying to put myself in the mind of your teenagers, who will be looking for some different adventure this trip. There is a wonderful history of the borderlands in France, from the wars with the English to the consolidation of the small kingdoms fronting the Pyrenees to the Albigensian Crusade. In SJPP it is possible to walk on top the old city walls, and imagine oneself in the past. There is wonderful (and hilly) Basque countryside for a day or two leading up to SJPP (at least on the Le Puy route). And there is train service from Bayonne to SJPP. Why not use transport to skip the utterly dull and forgettable agri-business flatlands, and spend more time in the scenic and historic sections?

 

Kiwi-family

{Rachael, the Mama of the family}

Time of past OR future Camino

walking every day for the rest of my life

• Apr 23, 2013

• #12

Kitsambler, you're telling me the same ting as Margaret/KiwiNomad regarding the beauty of Basque country just before St Jean. I've definitely been convinced to reassess!

I showed the boys pictures of the del Savador route this morning...."WOW, that's real hiking" they enthused! I personally was a bit daunted at the un-waymark-edness of it, but they seem to think that only adds to the adventure. I'm just inclined to see fog and newspaper headlines of an irresponsible mother losing half her family!

Off to see what I could do with Le Puy!

 

Kanga

Veteran Member

Donating Member

Time of past OR future Camino

Francés x 5, Le Puy x 2, Arles, Tours, Norte, Madrid, Via de la Plata, Portuguese, Primitivo

• Apr 25, 2013

• #13

The GR to or from Rocamador and then a train to Pamplona? Or any part of the Le Puy route. It's my favourite. With the advantage that baggage carriers run up and down the route so if you need to get a train/bus connexion to start or leave you can get a ride with them. Very handy for planning purposes.

 

3walkingtoSantiago

Member

Time of past OR future Camino

Frances: SJPP-Los Arcos (2011), Logrono-Sahagun (2012), Leon-Santiago (2013)

• Apr 26, 2013

• #14

I would agree that 25k is a bit much for kids early on in the walk, especially fighting jet lag. That said, my 12-y-o did 32k last year (Burgos to Hontanas) with no problem, but we had been walking for a week, and had taken an extra rest day in Burgos. Good luck - you will figure it out!

Buen camino!