Urgently Need Information

[AikidoSteve]

I am currently in Cervera, on my third day from Montserrat and I am just about ready to give up and take the bus to another route. In the 65 km so far, about 60 of them have been on paved roads. The 3 km today of an unpaved forest road was paradise. My body cannot take constantly walking on pavement.

So, my question is whether it gets any better in the near future or is the entire route like this?

Just to give a little perspective, I am not a total wimp and do not quit easily. This is my seventh Camino in five years.

Any information in the next few hours will help me in making my decision.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[natefaith]

@peregrina2000 may be able to give you more info. Hope it works out well for you whatever you choose!
Buen Camino,
Faith

 

[grayland]

It is strange how different surfaces affect us.
I have no problems with paved routes and much prefer them to muddy or rocky paths.

Maybe it is because I walk them constantly at home and it seems normal.

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Steve,
I think things will get better, but that's a subjective opinion -- see my blog. https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...catalán-from-montserrat-through-huesca.36443/

All I can say is that I am averse to lots of hard pounding, and I have memories of the first four days of the Levante being nothing but pavement, and four days out of Santander being nothing but pavement, but I don't have that impression of the camino from Montserrat. I do remember that that first day to Jorba was virtually all pavement, though. We went through Huesca, San Juan de la Peña, and Jaca, though, and it may be that the dazzling beauty of that part colored my assessment of the first part.

Wish I could give you specific information, but it is all so impressionistic. I do have overall great memories of this route, though it is also due to having been lucky to walk with a great buddy.

Let us know what you decide, you could move over to the Ebro-Castellano Aragonés, which I walked last year and absolutely loved. Laurie

 

[Wayward1234]

There is a reference to a dirt path leaving Verdu and heading towards Cervera, so hopefully this is coming up for you, but I am not sure that is the route you are on. There is a nice picture of that dirt path in this link. http://caminoignaciano.org/en/catalunya/24#

 

[Felice]

Hi Steve. I'm probably too late to influence your decision, but....
Why not walk what Laurie called the Cami Sant Jaume in Catalonya, from the med coast just before the French border, to Montserrat? https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/my-cami-st-jaume-from-llançà-to-montserrat.36051/
I walked it last May and really enjoyed it. It's a lovely stroll through the Catalan countryside.

 

[jl]

Hi Steve, I walked this route last year in reverse (as the Camino Ignaciano). There are quite a few roads, but as a general rule my memory is that they are dirt roads, rather than bitumen. There is bitumen leaving Montserrat, and then again heading into Logrono. My memory, which might be faulty, is of dirt roads though on the whole - not of walking in forests etc. I thought it a very interesting way nonetheless - though there were a few spots where we resorted to catching the train due to accommodation difficulties (we were on the road at the "end" of the pilgrim system. Buen Camino, Janet

 

[LTfit]

@AikidoSteve
Me once again. I answered your question already on the Facebook page of the American amigos and will here agree with Laurie's @peregrina2000 post as we walked together .
May I suggest that you go through Huesca, etc rather than Zaragoza and Logroño?