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Search 69,459 Camino Questions

Walking in November

Ross Sheeran

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
November 2015
My wife and I start our Camino in SJDP 28th October and plan to finish early December. Can anyone who has walked this time of the year share their experiences re weather and number of pilgrims. This is the only time of the year we could schedule our walk and we are concerned that we may have constant bad weather. Also, can we expect to still see plenty of walkers. We realise that this is not the peak period but hope to have some fellow walkers to socialise with. We'd hate to be all by ourselves. Thanks for any advice.
 
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Late autumn is a fine time to walk! The days are usually sunny and nights chilly to cold. By December all can be frosty. Late November 2012 I was caught in a true white-out of snow climbing O Cebreiro.

Much accommodation starts to close mid October but some place is always open. Hospitaleros usually can give advice on what is available on the next stage. Happily there are no summer crowds and beds/bunks easy to find. Walking at this time during the past 10 years I have rarely seen more than 20 pilgrims at one time

For more personal comments regarding walking during late autumn/winter see my Camino Gazetteer blog.

Happy planning and Buen camino!
 
Hi Ross, I will be 2 weeks ahead of you. When I walked Oct/Nov in 2013 I had fabulous weather, beautiful sunny days to start, crispy cold ones near the end, and I had only 5 days altogether of rain. Hoping it will be the same this year! About half way along I found I was HAVING to keep to the Brierley stages, as many albergues in the small villages in between had closed for the winter. But there is always at least one albergue open in the bigger towns, and more than enough beds in it for the number of pilgrims walking. But there ARE pilgrims walking, and you will undoubtedly form a happy “camino family”, as you find you are staying in the same places. Jill
 
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I've walked in October-November and will start again in mid-October this year. That is the most convenient time of year for various reasons, but I am pleased that it is also a very pleasant time to walk, with a perfect number of people on the camino Frances (not too few and not too many). Be prepared for everything from warm and sunny to cold and snow. It is true that many of the smaller village albergues may be closed, but there will be no problem in the main stopping points.
 
Ross, my husband and I walked from Vega de Valcarce to SdC last year Nov 26 (Thanksgiving in the States) – Dec 7. We took our time averaging 10 miles a day. Most of the time we walked alone and never saw more than a handful of other pilgrims at any one time. Those we did meet were wonderful and it is amazing how such a small number can still represent all corners of the world. We met mspath in Samos. Even at a restaurant you can pick out the pilgrims and it is easy to meet and strike up conversation. We met wonderful shop owners/managers who had time to talk because it wasn’t so busy. By the time you are walking this leg of your journey, you will have plenty of experience but here are our lessons learned.

Never walk past an open door (cafe w/ restroom in particular!) because there is no predicting where or when you will find the next one. Pack those snacks. Layer up with Merino wool …. Costco came through for us last year. Splurge on those water repellant boots. We used rain jackets/pants with hoods and wore caps (ie fishing / water repellant) under the hoods for better visibility. In the “who knew they made…” department of REI we found water repellent gloves that totally paid their way. Likewise the Merino wool buff was part of the daily regalia.

Members of this forum, fortunately for us, recommended staying in Tricastella so we could walk via San Cristovo do Real to Samos in the early morning. The lighting and colors of that morning were absolutely the most incredible we have ever seen. Though we went to Mass in the Monastery Church at Samos we found out later, it was in the chapel where the Gregorian chant was sung at Mass. This did frustrate me because we really didn’t want to miss the incredible music. So had to laugh when we learned such a simple and direct way of getting the latest monastery schedule ….just ask at the gas station! A very unique gas station as it is on a small slice of land next to the monastery wall as you walk into Samos. Should you manage to approach from a different direction …..Follow the wall until you are in the midst of it.

While it wasn’t our intention to have such a solo experience, there were benefits. The remembered sounds of our Camino are not walking sticks rather water running constantly everywhere. The birds shopping the fields, the cows mooing and giving us just enough time to step off the road so they could pass pilgrim free, the dogs barking and escorting us through the hamlets with such ownership!, the sound of wind bouncing off leaves, and yes, rain…though we must have found the Camino calendar wormhole last year because Galicia was pretty calm compared to the rest of Spain. Was it pain free? NO, we spent the coldest night of our lives in a hotel where the radiator worked away tirelessly and the window sucked out all its efforts. Every object touched extracted precious heat from our bodies….having survived that night; we have a brighter future after removing all the ice hotels from my bucket list.

The greatest blessing for me was walking the Camino for ten days with my best friend. Walking with the time to talk and listen to each other and to our God. Never had we received or given such sustained attention.

Buen Camino - m
 
can we expect to still see plenty of walkers. We realise that this is not the peak period but hope to have some fellow walkers to socialise with. We'd hate to be all by ourselves.

Hi again, would just like to comment that, as a solo walker, I tend to avoid couples for fear of intruding on their private space, until they are obviously open to including me in their company. So if you meet a solo pilgrim, be sure to invite them to join you for the evening (if you want them to!), because he/she probably won’t invite you, especially if they are a bit shy anyway. Jill
 
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I shall be leaving SJPdP on Sept. 30 with two months to finish my camino, so I expect to meet other November walkers along the way. As a long-time mountain hiker, I shall take my usual boots and clothing and expect to keep warm (and dry as much as possible) along the way. I suggest that you don't try to keep your pack weight down to 10% of your body weight, as this is a frustrating effort (I tried) and you don't want to leave out something essential. I am planning to carry more food than I would in a season where I could expect everything to be open. I expect that this pilgrimage will resemble mountain backpacking in the sense that anything can happen, and probably will. I look forward to fewer crowds, but will enjoy meeting you and other walkers along the Way. Buen camino.
 

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