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Valcarlos Route and Climbing up to Ibaneta Pass

CaminoCruiser

Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Camino Frances (March 2015)
Good afternoon everyone! I'm sorry if this has already been posted somewhere else but I just wanted a bit of general advice about the steep ascent up to Ibaneta on this route. It will be my first Camino so I will be starting in SJPP and stopping overnight in Valcarlos to start off slowly. Are there any walking tips for a first-timer for this ascent? Because of my inexperience I don't want to do anything stupid. Any help would be appreciated:) Thank you!
 
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Ibaneta Pass in the Pyrennes does sound ominous. I walked it in February after a late start from SJPDP and lunch in Valcarlos. It's a long walk, but not a climb. Pay attention to the weather, carry water, and enjoy the views.
 
Ibaneta Pass in the Pyrennes does sound ominous. I walked it in February after a late start from SJPDP and lunch in Valcarlos. It's a long walk, but not a climb. Pay attention to the weather, carry water, and enjoy the views.

Thank you. Will do:)
 
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CaminoCruiser,

Be sure to read what others and I have written in praise of this lower route.

As Leaningforward notes pay attention to the weather and carry enough water / trail snacks since there are no supplies for 16 k after Valcarlos until you reach Roncesvalles monastery.

The final ascent up to Ibaneta is steep but in no sense a hand over hand scramble. A slightly easier way is to leave the path where it meets the parallel N135 road at the only water spigot which is now marked non potable and follow the verges of the last paved switchbacks to the summit. This is the bikers' way. I, too, usually walk these final switchbacks and depending on the weather it usually takes me 5 hours to walk up from Valcarlos to Roncesvalles.

Buen Camino,

Margaret Meredith
 
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After Valcarlos the path leaves the road, twice if I remember right, and plunges down to a beautiful stream but then you have to climb back up again, this is to avoid loops in the main road which follows the contours. We did this in 2012 and it was tough going, if I were to do it again I would stay on the road as its much gentler if a bit longer. It took us eight hours, with many snack stops, to walk from St. Jean to Roncevalles.
 
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I remember it as being steep woodland trail once you leave the road. Along with O Cebreiro and the hill after Castrojeriz it was one of those uphill slogs where it just takes as long as it takes, even if that means stopping for breath every 20 metres or so!
 
Good afternoon everyone! I'm sorry if this has already been posted somewhere else but I just wanted a bit of general advice about the steep ascent up to Ibaneta on this route. It will be my first Camino so I will be starting in SJPP and stopping overnight in Valcarlos to start off slowly. Are there any walking tips for a first-timer for this ascent? Because of my inexperience I don't want to do anything stupid. Any help would be appreciated:) Thank you!

We took this lovely way, had a great night in Valcarlos and then continued onto Burgette around 5 km after Roncesvalles.
No 27 Casa Rural in main street.....beautiful hot bath, lovely room and wonderful people.
Enjoy the camino mate
 
CaminoCruiser, you did not post when are you going; conditions may differ greatly according to the season.
If you mention that you are staying overnight in Valcarlos, the lady attending the Pilgrim Office at SJPP will kindly volunteer to make a phone reservation in a hostal. Do it if you like this option. Otherwise, stay in the very good albergue, which is open all year round and has heating. No reservation needed, except maybe in summer. If the city hall is closed, ask for the digicode in any shop or restaurant.--
After SJPP and the bifurcation there is a local road, with almost no traffic. Mostly rural country, with farms, flocks of sheep. Some wildly barking farm dogs –just go your way.
Be attentive in Arneguy. I found signposts quite clear, but it seems some people has got lost here. Take the local road going by the police station and then to Ondarolle village, between the fronton (Basque ball game), and the church.
The worst ascending, actually, is between Arneguy and Valcarlos. I am a good climber, but I had to stop a couple of times to catch my breadth. But the landscape is stunning.
Valcarlos is a picturesque Basque village, with some shops and restaurants. There is a 6 km high road section after that, little traffic, with a detour by the charming village of Gainekoleta. Then, the path goes through a forest with oak and beech trees, and many little springs. I did not find the ascending to Ibañeta particularly difficult.
It was one of the stages that I loved most of my Camino.
 
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My wife and I took that route in 2012, early April it was rain/snow/fog, but not a steep ascent, just a long steady up. Utreia! Dave
I also took that route in 2012, leaving St. Jean on April 14, and I encountered rain/sleet/snow/fog and a thunderstorm. It was a very very long and cold steady and lonely uphill walk--the snowplow driver was the only person who passed me. I would have gotten even wetter and colder if I had stopped to add more warm clothes while it was raining because there was no shelter along the road. I'm keeping (fond) memories of that first day in mind as I pack for my mid-Sept/Oct walk on the CF this year, knowing I might encounter similar weather in any of the mountain ranges.
 
Further to my earlier reply, adjust your plans to suit the time of year, with respect to weather and the number of pilgrims departing SJPdP.

Try not to be the last pilgrim to cross Ibaneta Pass (alone, like me), and be mindful of the time back to the last or next road crossing (in case you find yourself in trouble). Finally, it's always a good idea to carry a whistle when walking in uninhabited wooded areas (my Osprey pack has a whistle as part of the sternum strap).
 
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If you are starting out from Valcarlos heading to Roncesvalles that day, you should be fine. In early April last year we emerged from our Valcarlos accommodation at 11:30, and immediately encountered peregrinos who had started in SJPP earlier that morning and were going straight through to Roncesvalles. We were somewhat humbled by these peregrinos who had already put in what we thought was a full day's hiking.
 
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Thank you so much everyone! Apologies, I should have mentioned I'm starting the Frances on March 23rd. All this advice has been very helpful:) Ana
I went by this route in late March, too. Cold (5-8 C), some drizzle, a mysterious fog next morning in Valcarlos and, just before Ibañeta pass, a glorious and brief moment of sun. The forest seemed to awake, colors were brighter, and birds started to chirp; I took it as a good omen. And it was.
 
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I went by this route in late March, too. Cold (5-8 C), some drizzle, a mysterious fog next morning in Valcarlos and, just before Ibañeta pass, a glorious and brief moment of sun. The forest seemed to awake, colors were brighter, and birds started to chirp; I took it as a good omen. And it was.

Magnificent Felipe , just magnificent
 
Magnificent Felipe , just magnificent

Hi Felipe,

your recollection of the area and walk is perfect, just as I experienced it when I travelled this path in the first week of June 2014. You summed up the walk extremely well, the details are exactly as you described. I agree that you need to be mindful of where to go once in Arneguy, keep left on the road, aiming for the police station, it is easy to get lost at this point and take to fork to the upper road to the right rather than the left.

Your details of the walk are remarkable.

I loved the off-road walks down to the river and through the forests that were just pass the village of Gainekoleta (plenty of shops and I recall a lovely square where we had lunch, up from the local school.

Regards

ossiemate
 
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