updates--A December/January start

You could check out my blog post on Walking in Winter:
http://amawalker.blogspot.com/2009/10/w ... inter.html

I started in early March and would not do it again even that early because of closed facilities. If you can walk between major destinations, which I cannot, you will be OK if you are prepared for all weather.

I started in late Feb. this year and found very few albergues that were closed. Most were opened.

Hello, Keilnirby. after reaching Santiago de Compostela, 17 Dec, 2009 I returned to the VdlP and wintered over at the Casa Paroquia in Fuenterroble de Salvatierre. Conditions were severe. Here are some excerpts from this time.
Cheers, Lovingkindness

http://www.caminodesantiago.me/board/camino-mozarabe-and-via-de-la-plata/topic7253.html
(Winter 2009-2010).…. How the peregrinos have suffered this Winter. From December ´til late March every peregrino seeking shelter arrived exhausted and with tales of treacherous conditions -of chest-high rivers outside of Seville, of coping in freezing fogs with knee-deep snow and ice, of incessant rain and relentless mud and the horrors of dead and dying cattle floating in lakes of water. One peregrina slipped and broke her finger and others, we heard, turned back and flew home. One peregrino set out from Seville only to end Day One with torn ligaments. Rather than give up he purchased a donkey and weeks later hobbled into Fuenterroble where he stayed a while, regaling us with funny stories

http://www.caminodesantiago.me/board/camino-mozarabe-and-via-de-la-plata/topic9723.html
…..By the time you reach Merida there will be icy blasts from hell and from Banyos de Montemajor and beyond it may get below zero. I was in Fuenterroble de Salvatierre (50 kms before Salamanca) from 17 December through Winter this past year. It was wickedly cold. It rained incessantly for most of December and then it snowed. It reached minus14 degrees some days and everywhere there was mud. I had a winter sleeping bag (duck down, 1.4 kg) and even then, dressed in all my winter hiking clothes, my hat and two pairs of socks, and with 5 blankets on top, I felt cold.

http://www.caminodesantiago.me/board/camino-mozarabe-and-via-de-la-plata/topic8272.html
…in December one or two peregrinos arrived each fortnight; in January one peregrino appeared each week; in February 1-3 peregrinos turned up per week; then in March 1-6 peregrinos arrived per day escalating by the end of the month to 15 or 16 daily.

Jeepers creepers! I'm glad I'm leaving it to the end of April!
Buen camino [hopefully without snow, hail and storm force winds]
Stephen
http://www.calig.co.uk/camino_de_santiago.htm