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Actually, the basic equipment and clothes needed for a five days walk is the same than for a month...Now, for extra clothes, books, etc., storing beforehand in Compostela is convenient.Because it seems there are so many services between Sarria and Santiago (and because we are hardy MontanansI am encouraging my students to just bring a day pack with two simple changes of clothes and leave the rest of our stuff at the post office or with Ivar in Santiago. So hopefully our packs won't be heavy. Thank you so much for all of your help! Buen Camino!
Therese
What a fabulous opportunity you are offering your students.
Last year I met a WONDERFUL school group that was different to many we came across. They provided the inspiration for this blog post which you might find useful:
26 June: Santiago with 101 others | Charity Walking
https://charitywalking.wordpress.com/2016/06/27/26-june-santiago-with-101-others/
I know we go over this all the time on the forum, but I have to disagree with this pronouncement. Running shoes are lighter weight and dry faster. Some people do better in boots, but I saw nobody trading in their running shoes for hiking boots and lots doing the opposite. I saw a lot more blisters and hassles with Vaseline, tape and sock combinations in boot wearers, too. But, again, everybody is different and feet vary significantly, so practice with different types and listen to your body is the only reasonable advice for others. It will be warm that time of year and it is a very well worn trail.Good hiking footwear will always have advantages over other types of footwear on the dirt tracks and gravel roads of this section...
@JillGat, if lightness and speed of drying were the only important characteristics of good footwear, I would agree with you. If only it were so! You have ignored other important characteristics of good hiking footwear. These include providing:I know we go over this all the time on the forum, but I have to disagree with this pronouncement. Running shoes are lighter weight and dry faster. Some people do better in boots, but I saw nobody trading in their running shoes for hiking boots and lots doing the opposite. I saw a lot more blisters and hassles with Vaseline, tape and sock combinations in boot wearers, too. But, again, everybody is different and feet vary significantly, so practice with different types and listen to your body is the only reasonable advice for others. It will be warm that time of year and it is a very well worn trail.
Buen CaminoHi all! Happy new year! I am bringing a small group of high school students to Spain this summer from Montana in the United States. We will spend two weeks in homestays in the south and our last week we are planning to do the last 100 km of the Camino from Sarria to Santiago. Is it realistic to do those last 100 km over five days in good trail running or regular tennis shoes? I'm trying to decide for myself and to help my students decide if it's worth bringing over hiking boots. Because it seems there are so many services between Sarria and Santiago (and because we are hardy MontanansI am encouraging my students to just bring a day pack with two simple changes of clothes and leave the rest of our stuff at the post office or with Ivar in Santiago. So hopefully our packs won't be heavy. Thank you so much for all of your help! Buen Camino!
Therese
What a fabulous opportunity you are offering your students.
Last year I met a WONDERFUL school group that was different to many we came across. They provided the inspiration for this blog post which you might find useful:
26 June: Santiago with 101 others | Charity Walking
https://charitywalking.wordpress.com/2016/06/27/26-june-santiago-with-101-others/
I only have anecdotal data, of course. One might interview the outdoor shops along the Camino about the percentage of customers who come in going from shoes to boots vs the alternative. One might find bias in these data, also but it would be informative. I also have my personal experience having hiked in all three, but that's just my experience. I think you should do your next Camino in sandals, Doug, and report back!@JillGat, if lightness and speed of drying were the only important characteristics of good footwear, I would agree with you. If only it were so! You have ignored other important characteristics of good hiking footwear. These include providing:
When these things are considered, I will stand by my assertion that good hiking footwear - hiking boots, walking shoes, trail runners and the like - offers significant advantages over sneakers.
- traction on a variety of surfaces, not just on footpaths and smooth dirt track, but also on rocky and muddy paths.
- proper all round protection of the foot, including underfoot protection, waterproofing if you want that, as well as protection of the toes, sides and top of the feet.
- durability - albeit this might be less important for the walk from Sarria to Santiago than for longer distances.
As for your observation about the prevalence of blister for those wearing boots, I think the challenge here is whether you have been subject to a form of confirmation bias. I know that when I have been walking, I observed those walking with problems in shoes far outweighed the numbers who were walking with problems in boots, particularly after Sarria, but even before then.
I am cautious about this for several reasons, including the possibility of my own confirmation bias, the fact that this was a casual observation, and the relative prevalence of shoes over boots in the last 100 km. I certainly don't walk with the intention of being a reliable and consistent collector of statistical data. I suspect that the many people who make remarks about this are the same, and base such remarks on casual and inconsistent observations. If it is otherwise, it would be great if you would share with us the data you have collected.
@JillGat, I walked in sandals on my first camino. The first and only day that I walked any distance in them was one of only two days on any of my long pilgrimage walks that I got a blister. The second time was last year, when I applied a strapping tape a little too tightly, and did not loosen it despite the indications that it was just wasn't right.I think you should do your next Camino in sandals, Doug, and report back!
(original emphasis retained!!).However I would never advise anyone else about footwear... you have to find out what's best for you with experience.
@JillGat, I walked in sandals on my first camino. The first and only day that I walked any distance in them was one of only two days on any of my long pilgrimage walks that I got a blister. The second time was last year, when I applied a strapping tape a little too tightly, and did not loosen it despite the indications that it was just wasn't right.
I have previously used different sandals without blistering, and I still use the same sandals for casual walks locally, but I would never rely on them for long walks, and they have never returned to my camino packing list. Nor will they. I have no reason to change what has been a very successful mix of footwear, socks and prophylaxis foot preparation for something that has proved unsuccessful in the past.
ps - what happened that changed your mind about this:
(original emphasis retained!!).
You are correct. But sneakers, it would appear to me, can include anything from genuine casual shoes through to specialist athletic, tennis, basketball and other sports shoes. You could class trail runners as sneakers, but as a category of footwear, the term 'sneaker' now covers so broad a category as to be of little value in a discussion like this. So I prefer to use the term hiking footwear, and explain what this might include. It seems a preferable approach to using the term sneaker, and just creating confusion about exactly what sort of footwear one is really talking about.PS - Doug, maybe this is a language thing, but I just re-read what you wrote about various boots, hiking shoes and trail runners (or trainers?) being better than sneakers. I thought sneakers would include running shoes.
You are correct. But sneakers, it would appear to me, can include anything from genuine casual shoes through to specialist athletic, tennis, basketball and other sports shoes. You could class trail runners as sneakers, but as a category of footwear, the 'sneaker' now covers so broad a category as to be of little value in a discussion like this. So I prefer to use the term hiking footwear, and explain what this might include. It seems a preferable approach to using the term sneaker, and just creating confusion about exactly what sort of footwear one is really talking about.
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